School Lunches
Donation protected
So many children in the Hamilton County school system are unable to afford daily meals. This fundraiser was started to pay off the debts incurred by those students, and any leftover funds will be used as a special account that the students can debit against in the future.
Below is an excerpt from an email from HCDE, with my thoughts below:
We have two parts of the charge policy. K-8 students may charge unlimited meals. 9-12 students can only charge $40, then they either have to charge the meal to a “donor account” if funds are available or borrow from a friend.
So there are two options for you. You can donate to a K-8 school to pay down student’s balances, or you can put money on a high school “donor account” to cover meals for students once they reach their $40 limit.
My thoughts: first, thank you ALL for even considering donating. I know it’s a tight time of year financially, but I also think this will be a super rewarding experience.
Originally I had in my head that we would be donating to young children, as I’m sure many of you did as well. However, according to HCDE, the high schoolers are the most in need as they have a cap of $40 charged. Central High School is the school with the highest debt, so I’d like to donate to their students first. I don’t have any idea how much this fundraiser will raise, so that will be a bridge we cross when we get there. I did speak to the bookkeeper at Central today, and she let me know that right now they have staff members who try to help the students most in need. That means our teachers, who already don’t make enough, are covering for their students. From the sound of it, the younger children will always be served a lunch (although I’m sure tax payers pay for that in the long run)
As a reference point, Ooltewah Middle School has a debt of nearly $6,000!
I’m up for suggestions of how to donate the money if anyone has any different thoughts/ideas, but figured we might as well start!
Below is an excerpt from an email from HCDE, with my thoughts below:
We have two parts of the charge policy. K-8 students may charge unlimited meals. 9-12 students can only charge $40, then they either have to charge the meal to a “donor account” if funds are available or borrow from a friend.
So there are two options for you. You can donate to a K-8 school to pay down student’s balances, or you can put money on a high school “donor account” to cover meals for students once they reach their $40 limit.
My thoughts: first, thank you ALL for even considering donating. I know it’s a tight time of year financially, but I also think this will be a super rewarding experience.
Originally I had in my head that we would be donating to young children, as I’m sure many of you did as well. However, according to HCDE, the high schoolers are the most in need as they have a cap of $40 charged. Central High School is the school with the highest debt, so I’d like to donate to their students first. I don’t have any idea how much this fundraiser will raise, so that will be a bridge we cross when we get there. I did speak to the bookkeeper at Central today, and she let me know that right now they have staff members who try to help the students most in need. That means our teachers, who already don’t make enough, are covering for their students. From the sound of it, the younger children will always be served a lunch (although I’m sure tax payers pay for that in the long run)
As a reference point, Ooltewah Middle School has a debt of nearly $6,000!
I’m up for suggestions of how to donate the money if anyone has any different thoughts/ideas, but figured we might as well start!
Organizer
Sharon Saville
Organizer
Chattanooga, TN
