Students can’t learn if they’re hungry, a Utah middle-school teacher shared in a now-viral TikTok clip.

Garrett Jones’ six-second video quickly sparked a wave of generosity that would pay off thousands of dollars worth of student lunch debt.

“School lunch should be free,” wrote Jones, a five-year educator of Heber City’s Rocky Mountain Middle School, in the viral clip’s caption.

The seventh- and eighth-grade teacher posted the video as a twist on a social media trend that involved people requesting small donations toward personal trips, weddings or dream cars, KSL News reported.

When Jones, a father of two, decided to use the trend for a charitable cause two weeks ago, he had no clue the video would help raise over $30,000.