Last week a Pennsylvania school district, Wyoming Valley West, sent a letter to parents saying their children could end up in foster care if they didn’t pay school lunch debts, which total $22,000. Todd Carmichael, CEO of La Colombe Coffee, a Philadelphia company 115 miles southeast of the school district, offered to donate money for the lunches. The school district initially rejected the offer but then said yes.

Did the school district really threaten the parents? Here’s what the letter said: “You can be sent to dependency court for neglecting your child’s right to food. The result may be your child being taken from your home and placed in foster care.” The school board now says it “sincerely apologizes for the tone” of that letter. Carmichael made his offer because he received free meals as a child growing up near Spokane, Wash.: “I know what it means to feel shame for not being able to afford food.”