Mansfield school lunch debt paid off by charity

  • 2022-08-14
Parents of more than 2,500 students studying in the Mansfield Independent School District (MISD) will be relieved to learn that their children’s school lunches have been paid for by a charity organization.

Common Ground Network is a non-profit organization formed by civic groups and churches. Groups like this often circulate details of the work they do through flyer printing.

The organization paid off school food bills worth $21,975 that had been building up before the pandemic hit. Over the past two and a half years, the School Breakfast Program and the National School Lunch Program have been funding free lunches at the schools. These programs will end when students return to class this Fall.

Without the sponsorship program, many students would have been faced with negative balances at the cafeteria. The donation from the Common Ground Network means that their balances are cleared.

Rita Denton, MISD’s executive director for student nutrition, was amazed when she was told about Common Ground Network’s donation. She went on to say:

“I could not be more thankful. I think it will open a lot of eyes. I think it will make an impact.”

Students in the lunch line who are unable to cover their bills are able to run up a debt of up to $25. Students who were in debt in 2020 would have seen that debt returned to their balances when school started in the fall were it not for the donation from the Common Grounds Network.