A stranger in a Cody, Wyoming, deli line paid for every high school student’s lunch

Hailie Schramm, a senior at Cody High School in Cody, Wyoming, walked to the deli counter at the town’s Albertsons on her lunch break on Tuesday with her sister, Kinzie, and several other students. It is a popular spot with high schoolers, she told Cowboy State Daily, because it is quick and close to school, and it is always busy at lunchtime.

At the counter

The woman ahead of them in line ordered her food, then turned to Kinzie and handed her $20. “She said, ‘I’m going to pay for your lunch today,’” Hailie said.

Hailie did not recognize the woman and assumed her sister knew her. Then the woman turned to her with the same offer. “I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s so kind of you,’” she said.

The woman went on to pay for the deli lunch of every Cody High student in the line, opening her wallet and handing out $20 bills. Hailie guessed she spent at least $100 on chicken, salads and other food. “She didn’t say anything, just, ‘I want to buy your guys’ lunch today,’” Hailie said. “That’s all we heard from her.”

Nobody knows who she was

None of the students knew her or learned her name. When the sisters came home and said something unbelievable had happened, their mother, Emmie, braced for bad news. “That lady truly handed out $20 bills to every kid in line,” she said. She has not found out who the woman was either, and said she wanted to thank her “for teaching this group of teens a lifelong lesson on generosity.”

Hailie graduates in the spring and plans to study occupational therapy at Montana Tech in Butte, where she will run cross country. “I’m definitely going to pass this on in the future,” she said.