CENTRAL FLORIDA — One Central Florida doctor is stepping up to take some of the stress off parents during this difficult time by paying off the student-meal debt.
- Dr. Sundeep Ram paid off about $5,000 of debt for Orange County.
- He sent another $5,000 to help out three Seminole County schools
- He travels to help hospitals overburdened by COVID
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After layoffs and furloughs, many Central Florida families have been struggling for months and Dr. Sundeep Ram decided to do something about it.
“In unprecedented times, helping out the community as best as I can was kind of the right thing to do,” said Ram.
Recently, he spends a lot of his time traveling the country. He’s working on the frontline in hospitals overburdened by the coronavirus, but he hasn’t forgotten about Central Florida.
“Why don’t we donate to student meal debt? With all the job losses and everything,” said Ram.
Every year Ram donates 10 percent of his salary, and with so many families struggling through the pandemic, this year he decided to help pay off school lunch debt in Orange County.
“We have about $5,000 of remaining debt, student meal debt. I said, ‘I have no problems paying that off,’” said Ram.
The donation covered the meal debt throughout the whole county, benefitting more than 250 children.
Then he turned to Seminole County.
“I was able to donate another 5 grand to help three elementary schools,” said the doctor.
Ram said the donation benefits families in a couple ways: finances and health.
“I figured if I could help these children and families out they can kind of make healthier lifestyle choices,” said Ram.
Ram has been donating money for years — much of it, he gives to student causes.
He said one of the reasons he helps students causes is because he was a student for many years and knows the stress of being in a lot of debt.
He’s hoping that anybody who can will follow his lead and help others, especially during such a difficult time for many of our neighbors.
“Any time you donate, it makes you feel good and it makes you work harder, so you can help more and more people,” said Ram.