Della Curry, 35, managed the kitchen at Dakota Valley Elementary School near Aurora, but said she was let go because she gave food away to the students for free.
The school district said Curry violated policy when she gave lunches to children who didn't qualify for free or reduced meals. She was fired Friday.
"I had a first grader in front of me, crying, because she doesn't have enough money for lunch. Yes, I gave her lunch," Curry said.
"It is policy to never give out free food ... that is all fine and dandy until you have little kids not on the free and reduced program and their account goes negative," she told the Denver Post.
Curry also revealed that she has paid for about 20 meals this past year, even for those students whose parents make well above the limit to qualify for lunch aid.
However, if Curry chose not to assist the hungry children, they would reportedly not go without a meal.
The Cherry Creek School District explained in a statement on its website that no child is "ever allowed to go without a lunch," according to the Huffington Post.
To make sure that every child is fed properly, the school district will provide a meal for the first three times a student forgets their lunch money. The charge will then go on their parents account. By the fourth time, though, students without lunch money get a cheese sandwich and milk, as outlined in the statement.
In a Facebook post from May 29, the mother of two wrote: "I was let go today from my position as a kitchen manager for Cherry Creek School District. I was fired for giving food to children that did not have money.
"While I know that what I did was legally wrong, I do not feel bad about it and I would do it again in a heartbeat."
Curry also added that she "will never understand how the 'best' country in the world considers a cheese sandwich to be adequate nutrition for a child."
"I knew the whole time it was a firing offense," she told the Denver Post. "Somebody told my supervisors what I had done, and it is immediate termination. I will take that if we can change the rules."
"I'll own that I broke the law. The law needs to change."
