Stranger Pays for Teacher’s Supplies, Social Media Reunites Them

Seventh-grade grade teacher Sabrina Drude was brought to tears when a total stranger paid for her teaching supplies.

The pair were introduced in line at a local Wal-Mart. Noticing Drude was buying an excessive amount of school supplies, the benevolent stranger, named Lester Brown, struck up a conversation with the young teacher.

“He started asking me why I was buying all the supplies. Which is when I explained that I was a teacher who teaches in a low socio-economic area, and would rather have my students focus on learning than worry about their supplies,” Drude told Huffington Post.

Brown offered to pay for the supplies, which Drude said wasn’t necessary. Not willing to be turned down on his offer, Brown insisted and forked over the money, leaving Drude in thankful tears. Drude says that most teachers spend hundreds, if not thousands of their own money to pay for supplies in their classroom, especially in low income areas. This gift was quite a relief for her.

Father of 5, pastor and re-entry specialist at the Texas Juvenile Department, Brown said that he had a hundred dollar bill that he had reserved for doing something generous for someone else. He says God told him to respond to the need of the children in Drude’s classroom, telling the woman that he felt teachers worked hard and didn’t receive as much recognition as they deserved.

Drude took a picture with him and intended to have her students write him thank you letters, but never got his name. So she took to social media, where the page Love What Matters picked up the story.

Coincidentally, Brown saw his photo on the page and commented, saying;’

“It’s me and I responded because I could see that this lady was willing to do whatever it takes for the success of the kids she is responsible to teach. It’s important that people who are in trusted to empower kids are loved and appreciated for their effort. Some of the greatest lessons I have learned are central to my life and they came from outstanding teachers and coaches.”

The local news station put the pair in touch and they have been speaking ever since. Drude plans to host a pizza party with her class and invite Brown as the guest of honor in order to thank him for helping start the year off right. [1]

Sources:

[1] KEN5