MEHLVILLE, Mo. — It's a problem plaguing school districts across the country: unpaid student lunch debt.
But in Mehlville, the community is stepping up to make sure all debts are paid.
"I really had my head in the sand, I guess I had no idea there was that much need," said Chriss Johnson.
Nutritionists say school lunch is just as important as textbooks and teachers, but providing it has put the Mehlville school district about $11,000 in debt.
"It was a pretty large debt and the parents were kind of stressing over it, so I just offered to put a post out on a couple of the sites and it kinda went viral," Johnson said.
Chriss Johnson's Facebook post was originally meant to help just one school, Beasley elementary.
"The debt at this particular elementary school was $821, and today one of my clients, Cope Brothers Landscaping, just came in and paid the whole bill," he said.
But the post took on a life of its own, and every share and like meant another dollar towards the entire district's debt.
"We took care of about $1,000 of that today and hopefully as it trickles in over the next few days, we'll be able to really make a big dent if not all of it," Johnson said.
And it's not just a Mehlville problem, 75% of school districts nationwide reported student meal debt in 2019. And that amount is only going up as time goes on.
"It's important for me to do what we can to maybe take care of some of that for the families that can't," Johnson said, "There's a lot of need going around. If you're in the position to be able to pay it forward, why not try?"
For anyone who would like to help, the district's new Pay it Forward program gives you the option to make donations online.
