'In lieu of flowers': Cathy Cummings remembered through eliminating school lunch debt

When Cathy Cummings was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer, it was completely unexpected.

"She's a 62-year-old female restaurant owner, and so her back hurt, but that was it, but every 62-year-old restaurant owner's back hurts every night because we're on our feet all day. And so there was nothing really missed," her husband, Sean Cummings, said.

Cathy Cummings knew her time was short, and while she was grateful for the beautiful floral arrangements she and her family kept receiving as gifts, she and her husband knew there had to be more that could be done.

"We kept getting flowers at home, and they were thousands of dollars worth of flowers, and they were stunning and beautiful and she goes, 'But God, wouldn't we rather feed people?'" Sean Cummings said. "And that's where it started, and towards when she was dying — you know it's coming, and it's getting worse and stuff — and I was like, 'Well, what's a problem we can solve?'"

More: Cathy Cummings, Vito's Ristorante owner and former mayor of The Village, dies at 62

In the wake of her recent passing, Sean has crafted a careful legacy with a profound impact in a matter of weeks with the help of hundreds of donors in her name. A GoFundMe was started to allow donations to be made in Cathy's name for the purpose of eliminating student lunch debt at schools throughout Oklahoma.

"We looked at it and we're like, 'Okay, this is something we can solve,'" Sean Cummings said. "So we do [this] in lieu of flowers."

Thousands in donations are helping eliminate student lunch debt for local families

Inspired by a family friend whose son couldn't receive a high school transcript — a crucial step in his journey to attending college — because of an unknown student lunch debt, the Cummings set out to prevent that from happening to other students.

"That debt carries over. If you're in kindergarten and you have it, it's in first, second, third grade. It still just carries over," Cummings said. "And these kids have no idea they've done anything, and if the parents can't pay it, ... it brands you because you're the kid eating a cheese sandwich, and that's just a little target on your back."

To date, the GoFundMe has raised more than $51,000 and Cummings has also received direct donations via checks. Of the more than $55,000 raised, Cummings estimates that about $22,000 has been distributed to schools so far, with additional donations in progress.

Cummings has delivered checks for student lunch debt to at least 11 school districts: Little Axe, Mid-Del, Newcastle, Blanchard, Jones, Luther, Harrah, Choctaw-Nicoma Park, McAlester, Oakdale and Tulsa-Union. He's also at work preparing a donation for Bethany and is in contact with other school districts.

If a district has debt that would absorb too much of the funds, Cummings opts to pay a smaller chunk, chipping off a percentage of the debt, but typically, he gets to pay a district's debt in full.

"We get to take care of just a ton of debt," Cummings said.

Sean Cummings said he hopes Oklahoma will step up to help feed kids

He said that beyond doing this as a way to craft a legacy that honors his wife, it's the right thing to do.

"For one, I think it's just morally wrong to have these kids have this bill. We are making them be at school, and then we're choosing not to feed them," he said. "Have you ever been hungry? Have you ever missed a real meal? Not, oh my God, it's Lent, I only can eat fish on Friday —  a whole day, and it's 6 or 7 o'clock at night, and you haven't eaten. You can't think about anything else. You can't study. You can't focus. You sure as heck can't do your homework and it obsesses you. It owns you."

Cummings said solving the problem could have lasting implications for the future.

"If the parents can't take care of it, we as a society, do we want those kids to treat us like we're treating them when they're little? Because when they're older, this is how they're going to treat us," he said.

While Cummings said he is amazed by the generosity he's seen from people across the state that has allowed him to impact so many students, he also hopes what he's doing raises awareness of how widespread the issue really is. Maybe even enough awareness to spur action among lawmakers.

"I hope we don't have to do that, because I hope the Legislature will change something and feed these kids. But if we have to do it, I'm willing to set up a 501c3," he said.

As for how he thinks Cathy would feel about the response and impact her death has had, Sean Cummings is fairly certain she'd be wearing her signature smile and opting for the same attitude she always carried.

"What she would actually say is, 'See, I told you everybody's not terrible,'" he said. "She was always an optimist, I mean shockingly optimistic. I've never met anybody like it in my whole life."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Sean Cummings honors late wife by directing donations to student lunch debt