Philando Castile's Mother Tackles Minnesota School's Lunch Debt With $8,000 Donation

[hlthe2b]

The gift from a foundation created in the name of the police shooting victim comes amid national debate over shaming in public schools for unpaid lunch bills.

Some good from a horrendous tragedy...

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/philando-castile-mother-lunch-donation-minnesota_n_5cd5970ee4b0796a95daf3f6

The mother of police shooting victim Philando Castile recently donated $8,000 to a Minnesota high school to erase student lunch debts. The gift comes amid reignited national conversations over unpaid lunch bills in public schools and how the consequences affect kids whose families struggle financially.

Valerie Castile gave Cooper High School in New Hope, Minnesota, $8,000 last month to address the school’s unpaid lunch bills.

She presented the donation on behalf of a foundation she created in honor of her son, Philando Castile, a black 32-year-old who was a beloved cafeteria supervisor in Minnesota. He was killed in July 2016 during a traffic stop in St. Anthony, Minnesota. The police officer who shot him was acquitted, but the city later paid a $3 million settlement to his family amid protests enflamed by a viral video taken by Castile’s girlfriend as he was dying.

The Robbinsdale Area Schools, which includes Cooper High, said in a statement last month that the donation from the Philando Castile Relief Foundation, created with the family’s settlement, reduced the school’s lunch debt by covering unpaid balances for about 100 seniors enrolled in a program that provides free and reduced-priced meals at the school. Some of those students may have had a balance accrue before qualifying for the program, the statement added.
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News of the foundation’s donation comes amid a recent resurgence in a national discussion over lunch debts and lunch shaming, which includes incidents in which students have been denied regular meals at schools due to unpaid lunch bills.Warwick Public Schools, a district in Rhode Island, recently was criticized for its decision to serve sunflower butter and jelly sandwiches as the only option to students with lunch debt.

[Me.]

1. As I Said On Another Thread

It is a real problem for both sides...the children who need to be fed and the schools, under budgeted, who don't have the money.