PHOTO: 99-Year-Old Retired Teacher with ‘Servant’s Heart’ Uses Bingo Winnings to Help School Children

A 99-year-old retired teacher in Roanoke, Virginia, has done something incredible for local elementary school children in need.

Martha McMullan loves to play bingo with her friends at Hermitage Roanoke, and, each time she wins, she saves her quarters and averages up to $2 weekly, WDBJ reported on Friday.

When McMullan learned that students at Fairview Elementary School were in need of school supplies, she saved her winnings for an entire year to do something about it.

Her friends helped with the effort, and their total savings came out to $500. When McMullan printed out the school’s fourth-grade supply list, she bought 24 of every item. She also bought 96 notebooks for the children to use.

She said:

Now, they have a whole list of things that they want the child to have, like glue sticks, scissors, crayons, pencils … and earbuds. I understand now that they use a lot of technology — tablets and computers — and they use earbuds with those. But I didn’t even know what earbuds were.

In a social media post on August 22, Hermitage Roanoke shared an image of McMullan with the boxed-up supplies, saying she was “eager to give back to her community”:

Social media users quickly praised the retired teacher, one person writing, “Martha is an amazing lady! Such an inspiration to all and a beautiful lady with a true servants heart.”

“So proud to know this amazing lady – such a giving spirit and just so all of you know she has had this amazing smile for 99 years!” someone else wrote, while another person said, “Way to go Martha!”

The teachers were also grateful for McMullan’s gift.

“That means a lot to us — that she wanted to see exactly where her donations went and how they impacted us, our students, and our community,” said Miranda Lewis and Ashley Duffey. They added that the young students are no longer embarrassed about coming to school without supplies, noting it relieves stress and anxiety so they can focus on learning.

McMullan is happy to have been of help to the young community members, stating, “The fact that these children need them and now they have them is really meaningful.”

According to Home Helpers, bingo is an excellent activity for senior citizens that helps to sharpen their memory and thinking skills as they enjoy the game.