A new local initiative aims to ensure that all students receive well-balanced, full meals at school regardless of whether their family can pay.
Eat’n Together, a local organization fighting food insecurity in Glynn and surrounding counties, recently launched a fundraiser to generate donations for 18 area schools. The goal is to prevent students from being served what’s called alternative lunch.
The effort is part of a larger mission to provide greater access to healthy food to everyone in the community, said Alec Eaton, co-founder of Eat’n Together.
Students have a lunch money balance at school that parents and caregivers put funds into and when the funds drop to a negative balance, students are sometimes required to be given an alternative lunch, which may be only a ham sandwich.
“Essentially it’s punishing the kids for something they have no control over when their parents, for whatever reason, either haven’t filled out the free and reduced lunch form or they haven’t refilled their lunch balance,” Eaton said.
Eaton and his team with Eat’n Together hope to make sure students do not have to go through this ordeal any longer. They donated $500 to one school to be used to buy meals for the remainder of the school year for students who would otherwise receive an alternative lunch.
The goal now is to raise $8,000 to cover all schools in the county and then begin looking to establish a more permanent fund for future school years.
“When we found out about this, we went to one school...and we found out how much it would take essentially to make a grant that doesn’t pay off the parents’ debt but creates a buffer that the school can pull from to pay for the lunch for the kids at that threshold,” Eaton said.
During the previous two school years, Glynn County Schools was able to provide free meals to all students using USDA waivers associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The waivers expired on June 30, and the school district alerted families and urged those who qualify to register for meals at free or reduced costs.
Breakfast continues to be served at no cost to all students, according to the school district’s website, but lunch must be paid for.
“School lunch meals should be paid for in advance or at the time of purchase,” per the site. “Glynn County School System does not allow school lunch charges except in unusual circumstances. Elementary and middle school students will only be allowed to charge for up to three meals. After this, an alternative meal will be provided. High school students and adults are not allowed to charge for any meals. An alternative meal will be offered to the student.”
In talking with teachers and school staff, Eaton learned that many staff members will pay for students’ lunches themselves when the students lack adequate funds.
“But they can only do so much,” he said.
He was also told that the schools work hard to get in touch with parents to get the lunch fund balance paid when it’s overdue.
Eaton said his organization hopes to create change at the state level by working with lawmakers to get rid of alternative lunch policies.
“We need to change this all across the entire state,” he said.
Eat’n Together was established in 2018 with the goal to fight food insecurity in Glynn and surrounding counties. The group intends to open a “pay-what-you-can” restaurant in Brunswick that will provide additional resources to residents who do not have access to healthy foods.
Since its establishment, Eat’n Together has sponsored several food delivery events and brought food directly to families, usually during the holiday season.
“The first year we started with seven families that we fed, and now we’ve fed close to around 500-750 families since then,” Eaton said.
Addressing food insecurity in schools is a vital extension of the organization’s mission, he said.
“These kids are completely victims in this situation that they cannot control or change, and they shouldn’t suffer in these situations when we have the supplies to take care of them,” Eaton said.
It’s important that students have full meals at school to ensure they’re able to learn, perform and feel well throughout the day, Eaton said.
Some students may not get the chance to eat much outside of school, he added.
“These kids also might have insecurities at the home where this could also be their only meal that they get,” Eaton said. “… Now you’re saying a potential kid is only going to get a cheese sandwich during school hours, and that’s going to their food intake for the majority of the day?”
Those wishing to donate can purchase a t-shirt online at facebook.com/eatntogether or mail a check to Eat’n Together at 139 Altama Connector, Box No. 350, Brunswick.
Several businesses have already donated, as well as many individuals, Eaton said. All proceeds raised will go directly to the schools.