For Wake students who don’t have money for lunch, new grant helps pay for them to eat
A new $15,000 grant will help ensure Wake County students aren’t forced to only eat fruits and vegetables when they don’t have enough money to buy school lunches.
The Raleigh-based A.J. Fletcher Foundation is donating the $15,000 to the school system’s “Angel Fund, which was recently created to accept financial donations to cover the meals of students who’ve run out of money in their meal account.
Since September, the Angel Fund has allowed Wake to serve regular school lunches to students even when they don’t have money left to buy them.
“We wholeheartedly believe at the Foundation that the community doesn’t work unless our kids are running at full speed, so we were happy to help out,” Damon Circosta, the foundation’s executive director, said in an interview Wednesday.
Calls to end Wake school’s unpaid meal policy
Wake County students are expected to pay for their lunch unless they qualify for a federally subsidized school meal or attend a school that serves free meals to all students.
Under board policy, students are allowed to have an unpaid balance of up to three days of meals before they get only fruits and vegetables. Last school year, the alternate meal of fruits and vegetables was served 8,000 times.
Cafeteria managers are supposed to talk to students in private when they run out of money. But school board members have said that some students have been publicly embarrassed by having their meals taken away.
It led the board to urge the creation of a systemwide Angel Fund. The district fund helps supplement schools that have little or no money in their own Angel fund.
Spreading the word about the Angel Fund
Circosta said Beth Briggs, a member of the Fletcher Foundation’s board, heard about the new Angel Fund and said they should give a donation.
School board chair Chris Heagarty, who announced the grant at Tuesday’s board meeting, said it shows the value of the efforts to promote the new program.
“These efforts to go out and advocate in the community are heard and can produce results,” Heagarty said.
Even with the $15,000 donation, Wake continues to accept more money for the program. Paula De Lucca, Wake’s senior director for Child Nutrition Services, said they can’t predict how many students will use the Angel Fund.
“Donations will always be accepted as they are needed to maintain sufficiency to provide this support for our students/families,” De Lucca said in an email Wednesday.
How to donate
Parents can donate money from their child’s meal account. Individuals and organizations can also donate money.
Go to wcpss.net/angelfund for more information on how to fill out a form to donate.
