--- description: But now she's being offered her job back title: School Cafeteria Worker Fired Over Hungry Student's Free Meal Is Offered Her Job Back image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # School Cafeteria Worker Fired Over Hungry Student's Free Meal Is Offered Her Job Back by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 24, 2015 1:18 PM CUT by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 24, 2015 1:18 PM CUT A school cafeteria worker [allegedly fired after she gave a hungry student a free lunch](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dalene-bowden-school-cafeteria-worker-fired-after-giving-hungry-student-n485181 "undefined") has been offered her job back, the Idaho school district involved said. Dalene Bowden, a server at Irving Middle School in Pocatello, told [NBC affiliate KPVI](http://www.kpvi.com/content/news/regional/story/Local-Cafeteria-Worker-Fired-After-Giving-Free/3dItkxc7PEK3s1FAfzWCZw.cspx "undefined") in Idaho that she gave a hot meal to a 12-year-old girl with no lunch money who said she was hungry on Dec. 15. “I handed her the food and said, ‘Here, we’ll take care of it in a minute,”‘ Bowden told the station. She said she then offered to pay the $1.70 cost of the lunch. “I handed her the… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dalene-bowden-idaho-cafeteria-worker-fired-over-hungry-student-s-n485441?cid=par-time%5F20151224 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4160953/idaho-cafeteria-worker-free-meal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4160953/idaho-cafeteria-worker-free-meal/"},"headline":"School Cafeteria Worker Fired Over Hungry Student's Free Meal Is Offered Her Job Back","datePublished":"2015-12-24T13:18:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:28:05.579Z","description":"\"In the spirit of the holidays,\" the school district said","url":"https://time.com/4160953/idaho-cafeteria-worker-free-meal/","keywords":["Newsfeed","local"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4160953/idaho-cafeteria-worker-free-meal/","name":"School Cafeteria Worker Fired Over Hungry Student's Free Meal Is Offered Her Job Back"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Here Is an Adorable Compilation of Kids Reacting to Opening Christmas Presents","description":"From jubilant exclamations — \"Santa knowed what I wanted for Christmas!\" — to earsplitting shrieks, here are some of our favorite reactions.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bphe0Q3F/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-12-20T15:53:36.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bphe0Q3F.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4160953/idaho-cafeteria-worker-free-meal/","duration":"PT1M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4160953/idaho-cafeteria-worker-free-meal/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```