Pay It 4Ward: Paying off lunch debt in Guthrie
GUTHRIE, Okla. (KFOR) – School lunch debt has reached an all-time high across America, according to USA Today.
Across the U.S., students owe a whopping $19 million dollars in unpaid lunch charges.
In Oklahoma, several generous nonprofit organizations have raised tens of thousands of dollars to help families struggling to pay for school lunch.
Wednesday, News 4 and First Fidelity Bank honored one woman with a big goal: to wipe out the school lunch debt in her school district, Guthrie Public Schools.
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Shelby Langley runs a small cookie business out of her kitchen.
She’s a busy baker who cooked up an idea to organize a fundraiser to pay-off school lunch debt in her community.
Langley volunteers at Fogarty Elementary School where her kids are students in 2nd grade and kindergarten.
“We are honored to present Shelby Langley with $400 because she went out into her community and got everybody involved and was able to pay off all these lunch balances, which is a big task,” said First Fidelity Banker Linda Bowen.
Langley started fundraising on the Facebook page Real Talk Around Guthrie late last year. Dozens of people donated, raising thousands of dollars to pay for kids with a negative balance.
She raised $2,500 so Guthrie students could start off the semester with a zero balance.
Guthrie grandparent, Sandy O’reilly, nominated Shelby Langley for the Pay It 4ward Award.
“I thought (her idea to pay off lunch balances) was just so perfect,” O’Reilly said.
O’Reilly has lived in Guthrie for thirty years. Her grandchildren are 1st and 3rd graders at Fogarty Elementary.
“I really saw a need in Guthrie,” Langley said. “I wanted to help fill that need, and I thought, what better way than to ask the community to help?”
Donations from around Guthrie paid for every kid at three different public schools.
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“Everybody just rallied together,” Langley said. “I was asking for $5 per person just to see if we could do it, and I had people sending me $25 and $50 and even $500. We’re really excited for what has happened and what is going to hopefully continue. I am so proud of this community,”
Langley is changing lives, one lunch at a time, and she’s already organizing another lunch-debt-payoff in Guthrie for March.
She spun up a new Facebook page Lunch on Us dedicated to lunch debt donations for Guthrie Public Schools.
She plans to use her $400 from First Fidelity Bank to pay for more lunches for Guthrie families who need some help.
According to Lunch Is On Us, donors have raised $3,386.97 for seven schools as of March 12.
Pay it 4Ward is sponsored by First Fidelity Bank.
Nominate someone for Pay it 4Ward
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