'We Are Truly Blessed:' Anonymous Donor Pays Off Lunch Debt At Pawnee Public Schools

Students at Pawnee Public Schools are starting the year debt-free after an anonymous donor paid off the lunch money owed from previous years.

Pawnee Public Schools said someone in the community wrote a check for more than $1,700, eliminating the lunch debt for all students here.

As students settle into the new school year, they can focus less on what's in their wallet and more on what's on their plate.

“We are truly blessed in this community,” Superintendent Stacy Womack said.

Womack said someone reached out to a school board member, looking to help with lunch debt.

“We received the money, stating that they wished to remain anonymous, however, they felt like this was something they were called to do and that they just wanted to bless our kids and our families,” Womack said.

She said the district gets help from donors pretty often, with help for individual students' lunch money.

“It's rare that we don't have donors step into kind of help here and there, but we have not, to my knowledge, ever had anybody step in and take care of the district debt,” Womack said.

“It reminds us that we are looking out for one another here in our community,” Child Nutrition Director Laurie Mittasch said.

This year, Pawnee Public Schools is offering free breakfast and lunch for the whole district through a federal program. While Womack said that does come with an extra cost for the district, it will keep students' tabs at zero.

“That is a cost that the district was willing to take on,” Mittasch said.

“So there will not be any lunch debt by anybody this year,” Womack said.

Instead of the price of food, students are fixed on the future.