Lunches for Students
I started this dream to help students in need. Through this process I have discovered that there continues to be a small portion of students within the South Milwaukee School District, year after year, that do not have enough money for lunch.
Growing up, my family was hit hard with the recession, making it difficult for me to have funds for food and clothes. Luckily, I was blessed with a very caring support system including my grandmother, friends and their family members, that would provide for me. Without these people I would be a different person today. I know my middle school/ high school experience would have been much more difficult.
When I was younger, I thought the only way that I was going to be able to help was if I was wealthy. Later I realized that this wasn’t the case. My help came from my grandmother, close family, friends, and friend’s families. It was a combination of people coming together that was able to help me throughout my life. I would like to provide help to these students and will need your assistance in doing so. Please help make a difference in a student’s life, from experience; it can make all the difference.
The hardest part of being a student and having to go through this was a sense of concentration throughout classes. As lunch would get closer, I would start to wonder if the lunch ladies were going to let through the line with an already negative account. If so, I would get the bare minimum, which would lead to more distractions throughout the rest of the school day. Luckily on days where my balance hit the max negative amount, a friend would step in and provide something for me, or they would borrow me money until a check would come from my grandmother. At times this would be embarrassing and I would try and keep my situation to myself.
To give an idea, a reduced lunch cost about $12.50 a week. This includes a selection of a fruit/veggie, milk, entrée, and a side. I would like to go an extra step and provide them the option of getting an extra item or two. This would be an average cost of $3-$5 a day. I have begun helping out a few kids, but could use any help I can get. By no means am I a wealthy man, but I have been trying to give what I can. If you are interested in helping, please donate with what ever you feel comfortable with. If you wanted to pay for just one meal, or ten, I think anything thing would be greatly appreciated.
Eventually, I would like to purchase a few gift cards for one to two kids, and allow them to purchase clothes for school but for the time being, we can focus on lunch.
If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to me and I will gladly answer what I can. If you are interested in hearing more about these types of situations, I would recommend viewing a TED talk video that can better explain the help we are trying to provide.
