Photo Provided Cayla Paboucek-Davis and her late father Rob Paboucek are pictured together celebrating Christmas in 2014 at Paboucek-Davis’s old apartment.

CADIZ — A local resident found a way to honor her father’s memory while providing for children during the holiday season.

Cayla Paboucek-Davis took to social media on Nov. 27 to set her plan in motion.

“Most of you know my dad grew up super poor and constantly going without, and most of you know I’m a helper,” she posted. “I want to team up with Harrison Hills (City School District) in honor of my dad by Christmas.”

She added in her post on social media that if anyone would be interested in helping her give back to the students of Harrison Hills, they could send the money to her Venmo account and she would donate the money to Harrison Hills on Dec. 19 to settle students’ outstanding lunch debts.

Paboucek-Davis said in an unexpected twist, her $8,000 goal was reached in just a week.

“We have met our goal I am stunned,” she posted on social media late in the evening Wednesday.

Paboucek-Davis said she first got the idea of helping to pay off students’ lunch debts because she saw several articles and posts about people in other states organizing something similar to what she wanted to do.

“I had seen other articles about people doing this in other areas, and my kids are students there and my dad’s history in poverty I thought it would be a good way to honor him,” she said.

Paboucek-Davis said her father Rob Paboucek died in January 2022 from complications of a combination of COPD, COVID-19, and sepsis.

Since his death, Paboucek-Davis has been involved in a yearly drive for the Rosenbaum Family House, which offers shelter to families who can’t afford a place to stay during medical treatments in Morgantown, W.Va.

“Rosenbaum Family House provides a place for adult patients and their families or caregivers to stay while receiving medical care at WVU Medicine. Our founding donor Hilda Rosenbaum’s vision for the house was to create a ‘home away from home’ for families facing a medical crisis,” Rosenbaum Family House’s website states.

Paboucek-Davis said with help from friends and family, they gathered $2,800 worth of supplies in 2023 for the facility, and in 2024 $1,000 worth of supplies was donated to the Rosenbaum Family House.

“We have also sponsored weeks at the Rosenbaum Family House, which helps pay for families who can’t afford a place to stay to stay with their family members,” Paboucek-Davis said.

She added that the reason she started gathering supplies for the Rosenbaum Family House was because that was where her family stayed while her father Rob was in the hospital.

“I don’t know how I can properly convey what a good man my dad was,” she said. “You always felt better when he walked into a room. He always answered your phone call. He was there to help even after 12-hour work days with something completely hilarious to say or do something comforting depending on what you needed.”

She added that he taught her how to help where she could and to fix problems that needed to be fixed.

“I hope I can be that for my kids and other people, too,” Paboucek-Davis concluded.