Robert F. Smith’s generous donation to Morehouse College inspired a small business owner to do her part.

Headlines Barbershop owner Season Bennett was amazed when Smith said he would pay off the student loans of Morehouse’s graduating class.

 “I thought, ‘Wow, that is just such a powerful thing for anybody,’” Bennett told WBTV. “So many students go into so much debt just trying to get an education.”

Moved by the gesture, the North Carolina resident called East Mecklenburg High School to see if there were any students who were in debt. The response she received was shocking. Fourteen students would be unable to receive their diplomas because they owed a combined $4,500 to the school system.

“It seems like that’s just basic in our culture,” Bennett said. “You need to get at least your high school diploma.”

Initially, she didn’t care about why the students owed money because “we don’t deserve a lot of the blessings we get, but we get them anyway.” She later found out a chunk of the debt was caused by marching band fees.

“I know some people were thinking ‘Oh, maybe there was damaged property,’ or these kinds of things, and I said, ‘These kids are doing something good, they’re on the band, they’re having school spirit.’”

Bennett didn’t want the students to miss out on this important milestone, so she created a GoFundMe campaign to raise the money.

She also promoted the campaign on social media and it caught the attention of the daughter of a former NFL player. By then, the GoFundMe had raised about $1,700 in donations.

“Thomas Davis’ daughter saw it, and she told her dad about it,” Bennett says. “And he said, ‘You know what, whatever need you have left over, we’re going to make sure these students graduate.’”

He dropped the $4000 to ensure the students would be able to cross the stage.

The money was a relief for the students.

"One girl dropped to her knees, and she just said, 'I have to call my mom,'" Bennett said. "She said her mom was working on getting a loan."

This project made Bennett think of another kind man.

“I just think about that quote by Martin Luther King when he says you don’t have to see the whole staircase, you just have to take the first step,” she said.

Any leftover money will be donated to a suicide prevention organization.

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