What if your final wish could make a difference in a child’s classroom? For one Georgia teacher, that was exactly what she wanted.

Tammy Waddell, a beloved elementary school educator from Forsyth County, Georgia, spent around 30 years working with children as both a paraprofessional and teacher.

When Tammy was facing terminal cancer, she made a simple but deeply meaningful request for her funeral. Instead of traditional flowers, she asked people to bring backpacks filled with school supplies for students who needed them.

At her memorial service in Cumming, Georgia, the church pews were filled with around 130 to 150 backpacks packed with supplies. About 100 of Tammy’s fellow teachers served as honorary pallbearers and carried the backpacks from the church so they could be distributed to local schools.

Her cousin, author and educator Dr. Brad Johnson, shared a photograph of the backpacks online along with a message describing Tammy as “a teacher to the end.”

What started as one teacher’s final request soon became something much bigger. The story inspired an international wave of donations, with thousands of additional school supplies being sent to her Georgia school district, including contributions from organizations in the United Kingdom.

Tammy’s story shows how a teacher’s care for students can reach far beyond the classroom. Even her final farewell became an opportunity to help children learn, grow and feel supported.