A Lawrence Public Schools cafeteria is pictured in this file photo from September 2015.

Thirty-eight Sunflower Elementary students and their families have been the recipients of some much-appreciated holiday generosity.

Sunflower, 2521 Inverness Drive, is one of several schools around town to benefit from the efforts of good Samaritans looking to pay off negative meal balances for local schoolchildren.

The grassroots campaign, which started earlier this month with the actions of one do-gooder and quickly snowballed thanks to Facebook, has raised $435 to help clear the lunch debts of Sunflower students whose parents may be struggling to pay the bills this holiday season.

“I was just amazed,” Howard Diacon, Sunflower’s principal, said of the gift. “I’ve been a school administrator for over 30 years, and this is the first time in my experience that a group of people has done something like that.”

At Sunflower, Diacon said, 45 percent of students receive free or reduced-price lunches. But there are plenty others, he said, who might not qualify for government assistance for many reasons. Some also may be dealing with unexpected financial burdens, such as emergency medical costs or a car suddenly breaking down, that only add to this stress, Diacon said.

It’s a phenomenon that Chris Lempa, one of the early organizers behind the lunch payoff efforts, knows well. Though he doesn’t have children himself, Lempa regularly works with families in his day job as community relationships manager at the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority, where he also manages a youth program.

“There are a lot of people who don’t quite qualify for services but are still struggling to get by,” he said.

Lempa has been heartened to see so many in the community pledge their support. Early commitments by Lempa and his fellow East Lawrence residents to schools (among them New York Elementary School and Liberty Memorial Central Middle School) in early December have since led to an expanded effort that includes all 20 brick-and-mortar schools in the Lawrence district.

Within 10 days of the first posting about the project on Facebook, four schools had received funding. As of Wednesday evening, all 20 schools have had their debts completely paid off or were on track to, at least. At that time, nearly $3,800 of the total $4,108.29 owed had been paid.

Sunflower Elementary is one of those schools, and is slated to receive on Thursday a $435 check from Lempa and his fellow donors, who he describes as “just some people who wanted to do something good.” Diacon said one of his cafeteria staffers nearly cried when he told her the news Tuesday.

School staffers do as much as they can to support struggling families on a case-by-case basis, Diacon said, and kids, no matter their parents’ outstanding debts, are never denied meals at school. Still, he says, “it’s a burden on the district,” and every little bit helps.

Especially now, with Christmas just days away.

“Any time of the year would be great, but at this time of the year, for some of our families, that will make a huge difference,” Diacon said. “It’s one less thing they have to worry about.”

Lempa isn’t sure if he and others will be able to pay off lunch debts at all 20 Lawrence schools by Christmas, but expects it to happen sooner rather than later. In the meantime, he remains touched by the outpouring of support from neighbors and community members.

The best part, he said, is the spontaneity of it all — and the fact that strangers joined forces over a simple Facebook post to help out fellow residents.

“It just went to show that a lot of people are on the same page, and when you start talking to people and sharing what you’re doing, you’ll find that a lot of people are willing to work together toward what see they as a common good,” Lempa said. “Which makes me wonder, then, what else can we do?”