Recalling Homeless Past, New Mexico Mother Is Brought To Tears By Son's Generosity

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (CBSNewYork) -- A mother in New Mexico has been sending her son to school with two lunches every day, and the reason why has her in tears.

"I'm telling you this. It's not for praise or anything. I'm telling you because it's pretty intense," Josette Duran said.

Since the beginning of the school year, Duran has been packing an extra lunch every day for her son because he asked. His appetite hadn't grown, but Duran's heart did when she finally found out the reason for the extra food.

"He said, no mom, it's for this little boy at school, and he sits by himself and all he eats is a fruit cup," she told CBS2's Ali Bauman.

Once that little boy's mom caught wind of the routine, she tried to pay Josette back.

"She says, um, I know this isn't much, but I just got a job and I know you've been feeding my son," Duran said.

She wouldn't accept a cent. The boy's mother had just lost her job and could no longer afford to pay for her son's school lunches. It's a story Duran knows all too well.

"This hits home to me because a few years ago, me and my son were homeless. I was living in my car. I was washing him in bathrooms, and we didn't have food," she said.

She didn't stop there. The girls volleyball team Josette coaches raised more than $400 to pay her back, and that check went straight to the cafeteria.

"We paid up all the past due accounts for all the kids that need lunch, right. So now, no one in that school owes any lunch money to anybody, and everybody can eat," she said.

The mother and son have served up more than food, they're forming friendships.

It's a lesson in generosity that can't be taught in the classroom.

Josette said she never expected her Facebook video to go viral, but has received an outpouring of support.