Philando Castile's mom wipes out $8,000 worth of student lunch debt at Minnesota high school


Valerie Castile just made life a lot easier for graduating seniors and their families at Robbinsdale Cooper High School near Minneapolis.
Castile's son, Philando Castile, was shot and killed by a police officer almost three years ago. He was a well-liked cafeteria supervisor at J.H. Hill Montessori School in St. Paul, always staying on top of food allergies and going out of his way to make sure every child ate lunch. "He'd pay for children's lunch meals out of his own pocket instead of letting a child go hungry that day," Valerie Castile told CBS Minnesota.
Castile runs a charity in her son's honor, the Philando Castile Relief Foundation, and last week, the charity donated $8,000 to cover the lunch debts owed by seniors at Robbinsdale Cooper High School. Students can't graduate if they have outstanding lunch debts, and many were struggling to come up with a way to pay. "For those students to know that they can graduate now without having a bill, I can't tell you how big it is," Robbinsdale Area Schools Superintendent Carlton Jenkins said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Lunch debts total $300,000 in the district, and it's an issue across the state, Jenkins said. The foundation is doing its part to eliminate bills, and it also recently donated $10,000 to the school where Philando worked. "This is something that Philando held near and dear to his heart," his mother said.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Book reviews: 'America, América: A New History of the New World' and 'Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson'
Feature A historian tells a new story of the Americas and the forgotten story of a pioneering preacher
-
Another messaging app used by the White House is in hot water
The Explainer TeleMessage was seen being used by former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
-
AI hallucinations are getting worse
In the Spotlight And no one knows why it is happening
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billion
Speed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
Speed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homes
Speed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creature
Speed Read