Brevard County students will return from winter break debt-free after a holiday gift from a pair of local donors wiped out over $7,000 in unpaid school lunch fees, News 6 partner Florida Today reports.
The donation from Brevard residents Michael and Roma Kahn, made through the Brevard Schools Foundation's Lunch Angels program, will relieve struggling families and ensure access to regular lunches for hundreds of low-income students, according to the non-profit's President Janice Kershaw.
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“Their donation was such a generous gift to the students, to be able to come back to school without having to worry about that debt,” Kershaw said.
Students who have unpaid debt are not denied school lunches, Kershaw said, but in some cases may be offered alternative food options. In nearly all cases, the fees are a burden on families who may already be grappling to make ends meet, putting those students at additional risk.
"Many times the students with balances are the ones falling through the cracks," she said.
With each lunch costing between $1.80 and $1.90, the Kahn's $7,612 donation paid for at least 4,000 school lunches between August and December. The true number is likely much higher, since most children with lunch debt qualify for reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program.
The Kahns said they got the idea after reading a news article about a California third-grader who saved his allowance to pay off his classmates' school lunch accounts.
"We were not even aware of the issue until we saw this news story," said Roma Kahn, who learned there were students with debt at every one of Brevard County's 83 public schools.
“We started researching this issue to see how this works and that’s how we discovered Lunch Angels,” she said.
The Lunch Angel Fund, administered through the Brevard Schools Foundation, accepts private donations for the sole purpose of clearing unpaid student lunch debt, which for the entire district can run between $14,000 and $16,000 annually, Kerhsaw said.
After learning about the program, Michael Kahn, a Melbourne-based attorney, brought it to an annual luncheon of friends and clients as this year’s featured charity, he said.
"We should reflect upon our blessings, of which we all have many, and attempt to share those with others," he said of the luncheon, paraphrasing a quote by Charles Dickens.
The donation was made in honor of the Brevard Federation of Teachers union, Michael Kahn said, which he has represented for 38 years. Union President Anthony Colucci said he was “humbled and honored” by the gesture.
"For over 30 years, (Michael) has gone above and beyond for our teachers," Colucci said. "Now he has gone above and beyond for our students."
The Kahns hoped the gift would "help focus people on the needs of others" during a time of year that can be especially hard on some families.
"We're just thankful for members of the community like the Kahns to help our students that are in need," Kershaw said.
Those interested in donating to the Lunch Angels Fund should contact their local school for more information, she said.