COVINGTON, Ga. — A few days prior to Christmas break, Newton County Theme School students and staff were shown the gift of caring as $1,321.79 worth of lunch debts were paid off by a roofing company.

"Perimeter cares," Anthony Puckett, one of the owners of Perimeter Roofing, said when asked why the company made the decision to pay off the lunch debts.

He continued, "It's really sad that kids get stigmatized at this age then they suffer through middle school and high school with bullying. It's little things like shoes and clothes and food that single them out."

Wesley Jackson, project manager at Perimeter Roofing, works the Newton County area and helped contribute to the school's donation.

The caring did not begin, nor will it end, at the Theme School. 

Perimeter Roofing has paid off student lunch debts in 74 schools across four areas in Georgia. The areas include Athens-Clarke, Gwinnett and Newton counties as well as areas in metro Atlanta. 

Th donations are handled by the company's Perimeter Cares Foundation, which is funded by homeowners, a portion of the proceeds from roofing and the company's distributors. The distributors are the foundation's largest contributor, according to Puckett.