“I was so excited when I received the Golden Envelope. It came after a really emotional weekend — we had just said goodbye to our puppy, Zoey. I shared the envelope with my nephew, Jadi, and we immediately began brainstorming ways to spread some light.

The conversation quickly turned to animals and kids. Jadi, who’s an 8th grader at Londonderry Middle School, had just come back from a class trip to Washington, D.C., where he noticed the reality of homelessness up close. That experience stuck with him.

When we talked about how to help closer to home, he had an idea. He decided to give the money to the head lunch lady at his school, Karen, to help pay off overdue lunch accounts. At his school, if students have unpaid balances, they’re not allowed to participate in end-of-year activities — something no kid should miss out on.

Thanks to this opportunity, he was able to make sure more of his classmates could enjoy those moments.

We’re also donating to Granite State Dog Recovery in memory of Zoey, for their memorial garden project.

Thank you for this incredible opportunity and learning experience."

— Jessica Minasian