Thousands of Wake students need help to pay for school lunch. Here’s how you can donate.
Wake County residents are being asked to pass the hat to help pay for school lunches for students who don’t have the money to buy them.
The Wake school system has created a districtwide “Angel Fund” to accept financial donations that would be used whenever students run out of money in their meal account. The fund would avoid situations where students have their lunch taken away from them and replaced with a tray of only fruits and vegetables.
“We know there are very generous people in this community that we share that would be more than happy to put money into a countywide/districtwide Angel Fund,” school board member Lynn Edmonds said at this week’s joint meeting with the Board of Commissioners.
The school board had asked administrators to create a countywide fund because many schools have no or little money in their individual angel accounts.
Student meal debt
The majority of Wake students don’t qualify for a free or reduced-price school meal. This means they must pay the full lunch price, which was raised this fall to $3.50 in elementary schools and $3.75 in middle and high schools.
Only 41 to 44 of Wake’s 198 schools are eligible for a federal program this fall that will allow every student to get free school breakfasts and lunches.
School meal programs are required by federal law to be self-supporting. This means the school district foots the bill for any unpaid student meal bills.
To minimize meal debt, Wake limits students to having an unpaid balance of three days of meals.
When a student hits the limit, the cafeteria cashier is supposed to ask the student’s parents to send more money or take money out of a sibling’s account. The cashier can also tap into that school’s angel fund.
But 50 schools have no money in their angel fund, and 40 to 50 other schools have less than $25, according to Paula De Lucca, Wake’s senior director for Child Nutrition Services.
If all options are exhausted, students are given just fruits and veggies for lunch. Last school year, the alternate meal was served 8,000 times, according to De Lucca.
“Every alternate meal of fruit and vegetables we serve is like a disappointment that we have to go there,” De Lucca said at Monday’s joint meeting.
Teachers and school board members have talked about how getting only fruits and vegetables can publicly shame students because classmates know it’s because they can’t afford the regular meal.
How to donate money
There are currently only two ways to donate to the new countywide fund.
Parents who have a meal account can fill out a form at www.wcpss.net/Page/43961 to donate money.
Community members who want to donate are asked to call Child Nutrition at 919-856-2918.
Shinica Thomas, chairperson of the Board of Commissioners, said the county will promote the new angel fund. De Lucca said any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
“I can tell you that the donations we have received have made a huge difference for the children that have been able to benefit from that,” De Lucca said.
