Arby’s Foundation erases lunch debt for thousands of students nationwide

(Gray News) - Many students throughout the country have lunch debt nationwide, but a fast-food chain’s foundation is working to ease some of that burden.

The Arby’s Foundation said it donated $1 million recently to pay off the school lunch debt for more than 47,000 students at 762 schools across the country.

School districts that have received funds to wipe out lunch debt recently include more than 7,000 students in four districts in metro Atlanta, more than 3,600 students in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and 500 students in Collinsville, Oklahoma.

The Arby’s Foundation said it believes reliable access to food is “ground zero for a child’s success.”

The foundation has donated more than $30 million since 2011 to groups working to find solutions to childhood hunger.

“Childhood hunger is something that no one should ever have to face, and school lunch should be a time that kids look forward to without worrying if they’ll have a meal that day,” said Stuart Brown, executive director of the Arby’s Foundation. “We’re honored to have partnered with so many local school districts to help those students enjoy lunchtime with their classmates and ease the burden on parents.”

The Arby’s Foundation, the independent charitable arm of Arby’s, has contributed more than $100 million to youth-related causes since its inception in 1986.

School lunch debt is a big problem for both students and the districts that serve them.

According to a recent report by the Education Data Initiative, 30.4 million students can’t afford their school meals, and more than 68% of school district have students with lunch debt.

For a time, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress made school meals free to all children, regardless of income, and about 90% of school districts took part.

Though that policy wasn’t extended for the 2022-2023 school year, eight states — Colorado, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, Vermont — have decided to make school lunches free for all permanently, according to the Food Research and Action Center, and advocates are working to get several other states to follow suit.