DECATUR, Ga. — UPDATE: On Thursday, City Schools of Decatur announced that a corporate foundation grant cleared the lunch debt balances. All donations through the fundraiser will be refunded, according to GoFundMe representative Brian Hill.
The school district responded to the lunch debts being eliminated in a statement that reads,
"City Schools of Decatur is grateful for the overwhelming support we have received from the greater Atlanta community. Our doors remain open for ongoing collaboration. However, we are delighted to confirm the $88k lunch debt has been eliminated thanks to the generosity of a corporate foundation grant. All past balances have been forgiven. CSD has less than a 10 percent poverty rate, and eligible families continue to receive regular meals through the National Lunch Program. We have also finalized agreements with organizations to provide additional assistance to individual families experiencing financial hardships. As a public school district, we often have to make difficult decisions. However, we remain committed to providing healthy meal options for all students while working diligently to proactively prevent future debt reoccurrence."
11Alive learned Thursday afternoon that the Arby's Foundation offered to donate $88,000 to clear the debt. In addition to the funds for the City Schools of Decatur, the foundation mentioned in a news release that it also plans to pay off unpaid lunch debt for three other districts in the area.
Also, campaign organizer and CEO of Goodr, Jasmine Crowe-Houston, released the following statement in response to the district's update saying,
Thanks to the incredible outpouring of love and support, I achieved my fundraising goal in less than 48 hours. However, I was informed that a corporate foundation has not only cleared the school lunch debt for City Schools of Decatur district but also for several other school districts. While I did offer to still provide the donation to set up a reserve nutrition fund for future meal balances, my donation was declined. In light of this, I am working with GoFundMe, and we will refund all contributions and close the GoFundMe to avoid further donations.
While the initial issue that prompted this campaign has been successfully resolved, the insights gained from this experience will continue to inspire both me and the Goodr team to actively work on preventing such situations in the future. I can’t thank everyone enough for elevating this issue - I am happy to know the balance for the students has been cleared and that students will not receive an alternative lunch of a cheese sandwich and milk.
Original story below
When the call came to help pay off local students' overdue lunch balances at Decatur City Schools, the community answered. A fundraiser organized to pay off the balances to prevent students from receiving cheese sandwiches for lunch has surpassed its goal in just under 48 hours.
This comes after a new policy, set to take effect on Feb. 2, was announced that would cap unpaid balances at three charged meals and then students would be served a lunch of a cheese sandwich and milk. The plan was acknowledged and defended by school administrators in a webinar last week, causing outrage amongst parents and community advocates.
On Tuesday, the founder and CEO of Goodr, Jasmine Crowe-Houston, started an online fundraiser that would pay down the district's more than $80,000 lunch debt. As of Thursday, the fundraiser has reached $85,730, smashing its original goal.
Crowe-Houston, organizer of the campaign, provided an update on the fundraiser Thursday morning, saying, in part:
"My hands are shaking as I write this update this morning. My heart is overwhelmed with emotion, astonishment, and gratitude as I wake up to the incredible news that we've achieved our goal in under 48 hours! We can pay off all the meal balances and no cheese sandwiches!
Immense thanks to each person who contributed and spread the word! Together, we've spared countless kids from enduring the embarrassment and trauma of being meal-shamed at school- something that could haunt them for a lifetime.
I spoke to the new superintendent of the school system last night and have committed to doing more to make sure that all these students have not only their meal balances paid but a reserve nutrition fund opened to help prevent kids from falling behind in the future. I also plan to work on more wraparound services, hopefully by opening one of our Free in-school Goodr Grocery stores, so the children don’t go hungry at night or on the weekends.
I learned a lot this week, including that this happens all over the state and the country - which has to stop. I plan to educate myself and others and learn how we can advocate for free school meals for all."
The school district responded to the lunch debts being eliminated in a statement that reads,
"City Schools of Decatur is grateful for the overwhelming support we have received from the greater Atlanta community. Our doors remain open for ongoing collaboration. However, we are delighted to confirm the $88k lunch debt has been eliminated thanks to the generosity of a corporate foundation grant. All past balances have been forgiven. CSD has less than a 10 percent poverty rate, and eligible families continue to receive regular meals through the National Lunch Program. We have also finalized agreements with organizations to provide additional assistance to individual families experiencing financial hardships. As a public school district, we often have to make difficult decisions. However, we remain committed to providing healthy meal options for all students while working diligently to proactively prevent future debt reoccurrence."
The online fundraiser has now been disabled after exceeding the goal.