True to the Christmas spirit of giving and sharing, a student who “had nothing to give” in Washington, United States gifted her teacher a small plastic bag filled with the marshmallows from her breakfast cereal.

On the last day before the school’s winter break, teacher Rachel Uretsky-Pratt received gifts from her students, as per her Facebook post last Thursday, Dec. 20. Her post, which had gone viral, has garnered over 360,000 likes, 20,000 comments and 122,000 shares, as of this writing.

From chocolates to handmade notes, and even some jewelry, one unusual gift stood out to the teacher the most: a pack of Lucky Charm marshmallows given by a student who did not have a gift prepared for her.

Uretsky-Pratt explained that her students get free breakfast provided by the institution every school day in addition to either a free or price-reduced lunch.

“This kiddo wanted to get me something so badly, but had nothing to give,” she wrote. “So rather than give me nothing, this student opened up her free breakfast cereal this morning, took the packaging of her spork, straw and napkin, and finally took the time to take every marshmallow out of her cereal to put in a bag — for me.”

“Be grateful for what you have, and what others give you,” Uretsky-Pratt said. “It all truly comes from the deepest parts of their hearts. ”

Netizens immediately took to the comments section of her post to tell the teacher how touching the student’s gesture was.

marshmallows — Image: Screengrab from Facebook/Rachel Uretsky-Pratt

One commenter, Martha Moser, noted that the student’s gift came from her heart because she had sacrificed something she liked for her teacher. She also lauded the student’s parents for teaching the girl the true meaning of Christmas.

“The ones who have the least always give the most,” remarked another social media user, Rochelle Cohen, who found the student’s gift both sweet and saddening.

Meanwhile, one netizen, Toni Estabrook, realized the accuracy of a phrase long used to emphasize the importance of intention when it comes to giving gifts.