It all began with a photo.

A photo on Instagram, to be exact.

Around six months ago, a second-grade student in Rachel Kyncl’s Sister Lakes Elementary School classroom attempted to buy a book from the Scholastic Book Order, using what little pocket change he could scrounge up to pay for it. Unfortunately, he ended up being short the $5 price tag.

“For the next few days, he kept bringing in more money, wanting to finish the book order,” Kyncl recalled. “I pitched in the rest and ordered the book for him. He was thrilled.”

Touched by his earnest passion for reading, the educator posted a picture of the small pile of coins and dollar bill the child gave her on the online photo sharing service.

Little did Kyncl realize that, half a year later, a single picture would set off a chain reaction of generosity from friends, strangers and a “Scholastic Santa,” just in time for Christmas.

Over the last several weeks, the Sister Lakes teacher has received over $200 in donations, prompting her to make a special road trip to the bookseller’s warehouse in Kalamazoo, purchasing 156 books for not just the students in her classroom, but for the entire school. This is on top of nearly 50 books her classroom already received, ordered by one of Kyncl’s longtime friends and former sorority sister, who wishes to remain anonymous, she said.

“I can’t wait to give these books to the kids,” Kyncl said. “That’s what this season is all about, giving back to others. When you see this kind of generosity from others, it feels great.”

This anonymous donor, who Kyncl dubbed as her “Scholastic Santa,” was prompted to buy the books for her friend’s classroom after seeing the aforementioned post on Instagram. She reached out to Kyncl a few weeks ago, telling her that she wanted to help buy some books for the classroom as well. The teacher, who normally gives each of her students a book every Christmas, agreed to her request, posting a few suggestions for titles she could buy on her online wish list.

“I got on the site a few days later, and noticed that she had ordered EVERYTHING on the list,” Kyncl said.

After publically thanking her friend on Facebook, a few more of her friends started offering to help her out as well. Soon, anonymous donations began to trickle to her classroom, one of which had the word “#scholasticsanta” written on the envelope.

This sprit of giving hasn’t just stayed in Dowagiac, though. After another one of Kyncl’s friends and teacher from, Ludington, Michigan Heidi Urka, shared the “Scholastic Santa” story on her Facebook page. Urka soon received $400 worth contributions from a few Santas of her own, allowing her students each purchase something from their local bookfair.

“It’s neat to see my love of literacy kind of spread throughout my friends and my community all the way up to Northern Michigan,” Kyncl said.

The teacher hopes the “Scholastic Santa” trend spreads to other districts across the state, and even nation.

“Even just a dollar can make a kid so happy, and give to him or her the gift of reading,” she said.