Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Church, recycling center help with lunch debt
BELLA VISTA — In a lay-person led effort, the membership of St. Theodore’s Episcopal Church, joined by the Bella Vista Recycling Center, raised $7,000 to help relieve lunch debt at local schools.
Fr. Brandon Hudson said the idea to pay off student lunch debt originated with the church’s outreach committee. He said Vicki Mincer proposed that it would be a way to serve the community and that lunch debt was a growing issue nationwide. Barb Knotts, Al Addington and Terry McCormack were also among those on the committee.
Addington said the committee had a little less than $1,000 to spend at the time and wondered how far it would go. He said committee member Sharon Moravits contacted Cooper Elementary School and learned about a $3,000 debt, of which about half would be paid by families but the other half could use assistance. The committee also wondered if Gravette and Pea Ridge Schools could use some help, he said.
Hudson said the church often takes up a special offering at Christmas and Easter toward a special goal. It was decided that any offerings on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day would go toward the student lunch debt effort.
Addington said as word went out, the Bella Vista Recycling Center decided to contribute.
McCormack said funds continued to come in for the next few weeks.
A surprising number of donations were raised on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Hudson said, and the church was able to send donations to Cooper Elementary, Gravette Schools and Pea Ridge Schools. The Bella Vista Recycling Center contributed $2,000 after its January board meeting, and so another disbursement was made to the schools. In all, $7,000 was distributed, pretty equally among the three schools, he said.
The funds for Gravette and Pea Ridge went to programs where the funds are distributed at the district level, whereas at Cooper Elementary “we were only dealing with them,” McCormack said.
Addington said lots of students get free lunches, however, there is a gap between when the family applies and when they qualify, and that creates a debt.
McCormack said if students run out of money on their account, the school will not let them go hungry, so cafeteria workers give the students a basic lunch, and all the other students know what that lunch looks like, so there is a stigma.
Hudson said Pea Ridge Schools told the church the district’s greatest need for lunches was at the senior high level.
Addington said the program turned out well, and the committee is wondering what it can do next year.
Hudson said, “This idea seemed to come up very organically. It was the lay people of the church, and as their pastor it was my job to say ‘yes’ and ‘I’ll support you in your ministry however I can.’ Money came in from the recycling center and people in the community. This is something people need to be aware of and it’s something that can be handled with some attention.
“This wasn’t just a one-off for St. Theodore’s. Our outreach committee will determine where our efforts go in the future, but this is on our radar. We’d like to continue to help.”
He said the church is taking up a special offering at Easter.
“The outreach committee has embraced food insecurity and disasters,” Addington said, “This is a new look at it.”
“The way I look at it, this is us looking outside our walls and seeing how we can serve the broader community in which we live,” Hudson said. “This is a way we can engage matters of food insecurity that’s meaningful and successful.”
Addington said one visitor came to the church for the first time and then the next day dropped off a donation to the school lunch program.
“That kind of tells you the spirit behind it,” he said.