Just days after she was fired from her school lunchroom job for giving a student a free meal, Bonnie Kimball has been offered a job by renowned celebrity chef José Andrés.
Kimball had worked at Mascoma Valley Regional High School for almost five years.
According to CNN , the New Hampshire native worked in the lunchroom serving the students meals every day.
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Recently, she came across a student with an $8 lunch tab debt in the food line.
Upon learning that the student had no funds in their lunch account, Kimball quietly told them to tell their mom they need money. She then gave the student a free meal.
It was this gesture that resulted in Kimball being fired from her job by her employer, a third party vendor.
She said she was shocked this happened since this was what she had been trained to do by her manager – discreetly tell the students they need more funds, but still provide them the meal.
“We weren’t supposed to pull trays,” Bonnie told the New Hampshire Union Leader .
Despite her training, her employers viewed the free meal as theft on Kimball’s part.
Her former employer, Cafe Service, released a statement claiming this wasn’t the reason she had been terminated:
“Fresh Picks Cafe, a division of Cafe Services, would not authorize an employee to not feed a student or a staff member a meal. When a student does not have the funds available to pay for a lunch there are set procedures to ensure the student is provided a meal.”
School officials say they have since attempted to offer Kimball her job back, but she won’t take it.
Of her refusal, she told CNN, “they’re not doing it for me. They are doing it to save face.”
Now, celebrity chef José Andrés has reached out to Kimball to offer her the opportunity to work with him.
In a Twitter post, the chef encouraged “hero” Bonnie Kimball to apply to openings at his company, ThinkFoodGroup.
In addition to being a celebrity chef, Andrés is widely recognized for his humanitarian efforts.
His nonprofit, World Central Kitchen, travels around the world to feed people in disaster areas, such as the first responders in the California wildfires.
As of right now, there is no word on whether Kimball has applied to any of Andrés’ job openings.
But I for one hope she considers at least applying, because considering the size of her heart, this seems like just the sort of work she would be perfect for.
