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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(107,063 posts)
Tue May 16, 2017, 02:39 PM May 2017

Couple pays $5,495 owed for lunches at Marysville schools

MARYSVILLE — On Friday, Tom and Christy Lee called the Marysville School District, intending to pay off the lunch money debt for the students at Kellogg Marsh Elementary School. They asked how much debt had accrued.

“We actually figured it would be $2,000 for Kellogg Marsh,” Christy Lee said. “We were shocked when it was only $259.”

They went to the district offices to make their donation. While there, they asked what they thought was the obvious next question: How much would it take to pay off the debt for every elementary kid in the district?

The answer: $5,495 for 262 kids in 10 schools.

They said they’d go home to talk about it, Tom Lee said. It turned out they didn’t need to.

In the car, Tom and Christy agreed. “We already knew we were going to do it,” he said.

“We came home, poured a cup of coffee and called them back,” he said.

http://www.heraldnet.com/news/couple-pays-5495-owed-for-lunches-at-marysville-schools/?utm_source=DAILY+HERALD&utm_campaign=7d9d9737cb-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d81d073bb4-7d9d9737cb-228635337

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Couple pays $5,495 owed for lunches at Marysville schools (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin May 2017 OP
Thanks republicans! Initech May 2017 #1
Hope he gets to travel as he has wished. He deserves a dream! lunasun May 2017 #2
Cool. jeffreyi May 2017 #3
This is trending. Another man raised $24,000 and now a local Phentex May 2017 #4
How sad is it that this country has to rely on random people doing these kind of things? progressoid May 2017 #5
Imagine if schools didn't charge for lunch? WoonTars May 2017 #6
Message deleted by DU the Administrators LiberalArkie May 2017 #8
The liberal states in India do exactly that IronLionZion May 2017 #9
That's what's so weird... Phentex May 2017 #11
I completely agree with you on this one. LisaM May 2017 #18
Since they don't vote, who cares WhiteTara May 2017 #20
That's crazy talk! progressoid May 2017 #10
Whenever I see a jar on a store counter elmac May 2017 #17
Thanks for posting this story...k and r...nt Stuart G May 2017 #7
Lots of big-hearted people in Washington . . FairWinds May 2017 #12
Wrong. There are plenty of good hearted people in DC DFW May 2017 #13
At my son's elementary schools, the PTA set up a fund to cover lunches for kids who forgot FSogol May 2017 #14
Thanks for the post. Very heart warming in this day and age. iluvtennis May 2017 #15
Good for the couple. Fuck republicans. Jakes Progress May 2017 #16
Imagine if the schools had all the money they need, and the Air Force had to hold a bake sale ... Hekate May 2017 #19
Thank you to the Lees and all those who Cha May 2017 #21

progressoid

(49,825 posts)
5. How sad is it that this country has to rely on random people doing these kind of things?
Tue May 16, 2017, 03:23 PM
May 2017

Imagine if we paid people a living wage instead?

WoonTars

(694 posts)
6. Imagine if schools didn't charge for lunch?
Tue May 16, 2017, 03:51 PM
May 2017

And actually provided their students with the necessary supplies?

IronLionZion

(45,256 posts)
9. The liberal states in India do exactly that
Tue May 16, 2017, 04:15 PM
May 2017

they have a long history of socialism and value things like universal education so they wanted to encourage poor families to send their starving kids to school by providing free lunch. Some schools even give free lunches on weekends and holidays. It improves the nutrition/health of children and produces a more educated population that has driven their economy to become the world's largest middle class.

But some here in the US would like tax cuts instead. Kids can eat tax cuts, right?

Phentex

(16,330 posts)
11. That's what's so weird...
Tue May 16, 2017, 04:26 PM
May 2017

people will donate to a gofundme but they will not consider just having taxes pay for school lunches.

http://www.king5.com/news/local/stories-worth-sharing/school-lunch-debt-fundraising-spreads-to-everett-marysville/440103223

A Seattle parent's GoFundMe project seeking to erase Seattle's school lunch debt reached its goal in just five days. Now, other parents are following his lead and starting fundraisers of their own.

Parents and educators in Everett and Marysville have started campaigns to help eradicate lunch debt in their school districts.

School lunch debt is accumulated when a child orders a meal at school but is unable to pay for it. The school won't turn the child away, but it won't give the child a full meal, and it will send a bill to their parents.

If a parent is already unable to send their child to school with lunch money, receiving the invoice from the school creates a bigger problem.

On his GoFundMe page, Lew wrote, "It is an awful thing and it should not be happening. Children need to eat regardless if they have money or not."

Lew originally started his campaign with the goal of paying off his child's school's $97 lunch debt. Then, his idea grew to include all of Seattle, which had a debt of around $21,000. He reached his goal Saturday, just five days after launching his campaign.

LisaM

(27,758 posts)
18. I completely agree with you on this one.
Tue May 16, 2017, 04:57 PM
May 2017

I've seen people flog all kinds of stuff on crowdfunding sites. I have such mixed feelings about them. I get that they can give people a shot in the arm when they need it, but I absolutely don't understand the paternalistic attitude towards "choosing your charities", versus just paying $50 more per year in taxes and having it spread out to create some baseline necessities for people.

 

elmac

(4,642 posts)
17. Whenever I see a jar on a store counter
Tue May 16, 2017, 04:46 PM
May 2017

asking for money for so and so's medical expenses it saddens me that this goes on in the richest nation on Earth. Life is cheap in the USA.

DFW

(54,050 posts)
13. Wrong. There are plenty of good hearted people in DC
Tue May 16, 2017, 04:35 PM
May 2017

The problem is that none of them work on Capitol Hill.

FSogol

(45,356 posts)
14. At my son's elementary schools, the PTA set up a fund to cover lunches for kids who forgot
Tue May 16, 2017, 04:35 PM
May 2017

Last edited Tue May 16, 2017, 07:09 PM - Edit history (1)

their money or couldn't pay. It was a nice supplement to a lot of families. If some kid consistently couldn't pay, they'd send someone to their house to help them sign up for free/reduced price lunches. Whenever I was in the office for something, I'd dump whatever I had in my wallet into the fund.

PTAs in other areas need to step up.

Hekate

(90,189 posts)
19. Imagine if the schools had all the money they need, and the Air Force had to hold a bake sale ...
Tue May 16, 2017, 06:02 PM
May 2017

...to buy a bomber.

The above is a bumper sticker from 40-plus years ago. We should be so ashamed.

Bless Tom and Christy Lee.

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