Seattle dad aims to pay off every school lunch debt in the state of Washington

A girl holds a tray of food.
(Image credit: iStockphoto)

A Seattle father of three is well on his way to eliminating all school lunch debt in the state of Washington.

Jeffrey Lew read an article about some school districts that either refuse to give students lunch if they don't have any cash on them or take away their hot meal and replace it with something cold. Other districts send the kids home with invoices, which can add up quickly. "It boggles my mind that a child can accrue a debt at school," he told Today Parents. "I was determined to do something about it." Lew found out his sons' school was trying to collect $97.10 worth of student lunch debt, paid that, then moved on to tackle all of the debt owed to Seattle Public Schools — $20,531.79.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.