(Photo Source: NBC News)

Katelynn Hardee is helping her classmates with cookies and hot cocoa

5-year-old Katelynn Hardee, a San Diego resident, has kindergarten classmates who can’t afford their school lunches. When Katelynn learned that families in her school were racking up lunch debt, she devised a plan to pay off their balances–by selling hot cocoa and cookies to her neighbors.

“She’s very inquisitive,” the girl’s mother, Karina Hardee, told a local news station in San Diego. “So she started asking me a bunch of questions and I tried to answer as best as I could without too much for a 5-year-old, and just explained to her that some people aren’t as fortunate as us.”

Katelynn baked homemade cookies and made her own hot cocoa, which she sold at an old-fashioned stand outside her home. She then gave the money to her mother, who asked the school to use the funds to pay off school lunch debts.

“I just left a note saying my daughter held a hot cocoa fundraiser over the weekend and would love to donate the money to any of the negative accounts,” Karina Hardee said.

Katelynn was able to pay off 123 students’ debts with her cookie and cocoa stand. Her school later gave an award to celebrate her selfless act.

“Her actions do create awesomeness,” Katelynn’s mother said.