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Community raises $85K to pay off lunch debt for students who’d be served cheese sandwiches

People were outraged when the Decatur, Georgia schools announced it would serve “alternative meals” to kids.

Kids eating lunch and a grilled chese sandwich.

School lunch debt is a big problem in the United States with nearly 30 million students unable to afford meals. An Education Data survey found that the average school meal debt in the U.S. is $180.60 per student.

The problem with school lunch debt is that it hurts in 2 ways. It puts children in the position of being shamed and humiliated for not having the money, leading many to skip lunch altogether. It also places a burden on school districts that have to pay off the debt.

The City Schools of Decatur in Georgia announced that kids with unpaid lunch debt would be served an “alternative meal” of a cheese sandwich and milk starting February 1. Middle and high school students would be served the sandwich after accumulating $10.50 in lunch debt and elementary students after they crossed the $9.75 threshold.


The district created the rule because the city had accumulated $88,000 in debt from unpaid lunches.

News about the cheese sandwich went viral, causing outrage among many who believed the children were being shamed for a situation beyond their control.

After the news went viral, Goodr CEO and Atlanta-area resident Jasmine Crowe-Houston set up a GoFundMe campaign to help raise money to pay off the school district’s debt so every child can have a nutritious meal.

Goodr is a national network united to help eliminate food waste and end world hunger.

I've launched a #GoFundMe to eliminate unpaid meal balances for kids at Decatur City Schools. No child should face embarrassment over a meal. Let's ensure every child enjoys lunch with dignity. 🍎 

“No child should ever go hungry or be subjected to unnecessary embarrassment due to financial constraints. I believe that every child deserves a full, nutritious meal to fuel their bodies and minds for a successful day of learning,” Crowe-Houston wrote on the GoFundMe page.

“That's why I've launched this GoFundMe campaign with the goal of raising $88,000 to eliminate the meal account balances for all students in need,” she continued. “Your generous contributions will directly impact these children, allowing them to enjoy a well-rounded meal like their peers and alleviating any potential embarrassment they may face.”

Just as the story about the cheese sandwiches caught the public’s attention, so did the plan to stop them. The GoFundMe page raised the money necessary to cancel the school lunch debt in just 2 days.

“My hands are shaking as I write this update this morning,” Crowe Houston wrote on GoFundMe. “My heart is overwhelmed with emotion, astonishment, and gratitude as I wake up to the incredible news that we've achieved our goal in under 48 hours! We can pay off all the meal balances and no cheese sandwiches!”

But after that announcement, Crowe-Houston learned that a corporate foundation had already stepped in to eliminate the school lunch debt. The Goodr CEO offered the money to the district to provide a fund for future lunch-debt problems the students may face, but the donation was declined.

The cheese sandwich story is a beautiful example of a community standing up to provide essential nutrition for children. However, it does raise an even larger question that begs to be answered: in the wealthiest country in the world, should school lunch debt even exist in the first place?

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Cigna 2017

It’s easy to feel like there’s too much to keep track of when it comes to staying healthy.

Calories, fat, pounds, carbs, miles, steps — it's easy to get overwhelmed with conflicting science and false health fads. So the more complicated things, like cholesterol, often get overlooked.

Cholesterol plays a surprisingly large part in your overall health, and knowing and managing your cholesterol level (plus your other three health numbers — blood glucose, blood pressure, and body mass index) can help prevent health problems down the line. We chatted with Dr. Christina Stasiuk, senior medical director at Cigna, to learn more.


Image via iStock.

Here are 13 interesting facts about the role cholesterol plays in your body's health.

1. Cholesterol was first discovered in 1784, so scientists and doctors have been studying it for a long time.

There are two major sub-types of cholesterol: good (high-density lipoprotein, or HDL) and bad (low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, and triglycerides). Bad cholesterol is a fatty substance that can stick to the linings of your arteries and veins, whereas good cholesterol acts as a sort of broom that helps scrub away those LDL buildups in your body.

Image via iStock.

2. Your weight isn’t an indicator of your cholesterol level or overall health.

“There are thin people who are at higher risk of heart disease than people who may be overweight but who exercise, don’t smoke, and have normal blood pressure,” says Stasiuk. The only way to know your cholesterol levels for sure is through a blood test.

3. Your body makes all the cholesterol it needs on its own.

The body makes both good and bad cholesterol, as they’re both needed to help perform a lot of the body's necessary functions. It's only when we consume too much LDL and triglycerides that it becomes “bad” by forming harmful buildup in our veins and arteries.

4. Clogged arteries look like they’re coated in butter.

If your body doesn’t have enough good cholesterol to scrub away sticky buildups, your arteries become clogged with yellow plaque-like fat. If you could slice open a clogged artery and look inside, it would look like it was filled with a thick layer of frozen butter. Uh ... yum?

5. You could end up with high cholesterol regardless of your healthy habits — thanks, genetics!

Familial hypercholesterolemia” is a genetic condition that causes naturally high levels of bad cholesterol. A heart-healthy lifestyle can help, but people with a predisposition for high cholesterol usually also need medication.

Lots of other genetic factors affect heart health too, so the only way to know for sure that your heart is healthy is to consult your doctor.

Image via iStock.

6. Your body can generate good cholesterol with regular exercise.

According to Stasiuk, there are really no foods or drugs that significantly increase good cholesterol levels. Regular exercise, however, can help the body create the good cholesterol it needs.

7. When it comes to eats, the richest foods are usually the worst for you.

"Bad cholesterol is typically animal-source cholesterol," says Stasiuk. "The solid stuff — the bacon fat, the fat around a steak. You're better off having liquid fats, like olive or canola oil or the oily fats you get in fish." Solid fats are the ones most likely to "stick," while liquid fats can be cleaned out of the body more easily.

Image via iStock.

8. Look out for the cholesterol double-whammy: the trans fatty acid.

Two things to look for on nutrition labels are saturated fat and trans fats, both of which raise your LDL levels. But trans fats also lower your HDL, pulling double-duty against your cholesterol health. And both saturated fat and trans fats show up in manufactured foods you might not expect because they help lengthen shelf life. "Think about it this way," says Stasiuk. "The amount of time that food lasts on the shelf is how long those lipids will be in your body." Ack!

9. One surprising source of high cholesterol? Coffee.

Don’t worry. Only when it’s unfiltered, like in Turkish or French press coffee, does your morning joe contain a harmful substance called cafestol, which raises bad cholesterol. If you drink drip coffee, you’re good to go. The filter catches cafestol before it hits your cup.

Photo by Jen/Flickr.

10. Certain foods can help pull bad cholesterol out of the bloodstream and send it out of the body (and it’s not just Cheerios).

Salmon, oatmeal, berries, avocados, beans, nuts, and spinach are all power workers when it comes to scrubbing and flushing out all those sticky cholesterol particles.

11. Women are at a generally lower risk for bad cholesterol levels and heart disease than men — that is, until menopause.

Estrogen helps balance good and bad cholesterol levels in women's bodies. Once menopause occurs and estrogen levels drop, women's cholesterol levels and risk of heart disease rise.

Image via iStock.

12. Cholesterol also plays a big role in keeping your brain healthy. In fact, about 25% of the cholesterol in your body is stored in your brain.

Cholesterol is a structural component of myelin, which is the protective substance that covers the nerve fibers in your brain. Strong myelin sheaths help the brain function, facilitating things like memory and quick thinking.

13. Laughter might be good for your heart.

Research suggests that laughter can trigger a variety of heart healthy reactions in the body. It decreases stress hormones, reduces artery inflammation, and increases good cholesterol. So if you can’t fit in a workout today, make sure you get in a laugh!

The most important part of maintaining good cholesterol health is to be aware of it and, where you can, make lifestyle choices that support it.

It's not about counting milligrams or calculating intake levels — it's about making lifestyle choices that benefit you and your body. "It all comes back to this: go, know, and take control," says Stasiuk. Get your blood tested during annual checkups with your doctor and take the time to make sure you understand your results. Then make small, progressive steps toward better heart health. Nothing drastic and no special secrets — just little changes toward treating your body right!

The Trump administrations's preliminary budget cuts at the heart of things that make America great.

It eliminates funds for coastal research programs that prepare regions for storms and rising water levels. It reduces work-study aid for college students. It cuts poorly performing Job Corps centers. It limits funds for United Nations peacekeeping. It eliminates the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the umbrella organization for PBS and NPR. And that's not even half of it.

‌Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. ‌


One move that's getting a lot of backlash is the elimination of Community Development Block Grants.

The $3 billion program provides funds for neighborhood development, job creation, affordable housing, and anti-poverty initiatives, most notably Meals on Wheels.

Josephine Yaroz, 90, sits in her dining room after receiving a food delivery in Montague, New Jersey. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

Meals on Wheels delivers nutritious lunches to seniors who apply. Participants can pay a suggested donation, but no one is turned away if they can't pay. Since clients must be home to receive the meals, MOW volunteers provide consistent contact and social support for people who may not have either. The program also serves lunches at meal sites and dining centers around the country. Anyone over 60, regardless of income, is invited to dine in. Some of the centers also provide classes and outings for seniors.

Tom Neville sits with Marie Connors after bringing her a food delivery in Hainesville, New Jersey. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

For the people who use Meals on Wheels, it's quite literally a lifesaver.

Yet it finds itself under the knife. It's unclear just how severely the loss of the block grant would affect the organization. Just 3% of the national organization's funding comes from Community Development Block Grants. 35% comes from the Older Americans Act, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, which is also facing drastic cuts. But while the national office may not heavily rely on CDBGs, state and regional Meals on Wheels programs often do. There's a lot of uncertainty.

Tom Neville arrives to a nutrition center with a Meals on Wheels food delivery. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

No matter how you slice it, if federal cuts occur, people will go hungry.

There's no doubt this is a valuable program worth keeping.  Here's a look at Meals on Wheels impact by the numbers.

1 in 6

The number of U.S. seniors who struggle with hunger. That's just over 16%, or about 7.7 million people. ‌‌

Gertrude Robinson, 97, receives a Meals on Wheels delivery from the Sullivan County Office for the Aging. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

2050

The year the population of seniors will have doubled, to reach nearly 90 million people. ‌‌

Carolyn Gruber, 91, receives a Meals on Wheels delivery in Glen Spey, New York. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

51%

The percentage of Meals on Wheels home-delivery clients who live alone.

Joseph Horecky, who is 90 and has a vision impairment, in his kitchen after receiving a Meals on Wheels delivery. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

87%

The percentage of Meals on Wheels participants who are physically unable to shop for groceries.

Meals on Wheels driver Jim Fleming delivers food to Yvonne Jarkowski in San Francisco. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

‌But for every alarming statistic, there's hope and good news.

92%

The percentage of Meals on Wheels participants who say the program helps them to remain living in their own home.

Doris Murch, 85, sits at her kitchen table after receiving a food delivery. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

‌$2,500-$2,800

The cost of one year of MOW meals for one senior.That's about how much three adults spend on Christmas gifts.

Hannah Meinhardt, 96, receives a hot meal. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

‌500,000

The number of veterans Meals on Wheels serves each year.That's more than enough veterans to fill the Rose Bowl five times. ‌

Veterans commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the Korean War armistice agreement. Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images.

2,402,920

The number of seniors Meals on Wheels programs served in 2016. That's like serving lunch to the entire populations of Minneapolis, Denver, Memphis, Sacramento, and Orlando. ‌‌

Tamara Lycholaj, 89, receives a hot meal from nutrition worker Al Patalona. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

217,985,263

The number of meals served by Meals on Wheels programs in 2016. If each meal came with a slice of sandwich bread, that bread placed crust to crust would stretch from Seattle to Miami and back about four and a half times!

A nutrition specialist prepares a meal delivery in Eldred, New York. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

‌Not enough data? There's plenty more where that came from.

Meals on Wheels visits may boost medication adherence rates as much as 14%. Daily Meals on Wheels visits may reduce participants' feelings of loneliness. Meals on Wheels deliveries may even reduce the risk of falling in the home, especially for people who've suffered a previous fall, a particularly high-risk group.

The evidence is clear: Meals on Wheels is vital and necessary.

Like many of President Trump's proposed budget measures, this is a heartless cut that saves very little money in the long term and tears at the very moral and communal fabric that makes this country one of a kind. ‌‌

Cuts aside, Meals on Wheels could use your support today.

You can volunteer in the kitchen or as a driver. Some communities even offer bicycle and walking routes to deliver meals in your neighborhood. If you're able, consider making a financial contribution to the national or a local MOW agency. Whether or not the budget goes through, Meals on Wheels relies on donations to keep the meals, wellness checks, and other resources arriving without interruption. Give what you can, as you're able.

Doris Murch, 85, speaks with Tom Neville after he brought her a food delivery in Lafayette, New Jersey. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

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5 random things we spend our money on that make global aid look like pocket change.

$2 billion actually isn't that much when you put it in perspective.

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Gates Foundation: The Story of Food

The amount we all spent on airline baggage fees last year is more than the amount needed to save the lives of 2 million little kids.

Isn't that pretty wild to think about?  

Together we spent $3.1 billion on baggage fees in 2016 — on top of our actual tickets — so that U.S.-based airlines could transport our crap (what an industry!). That's a billion more dollars than what's needed to stay on track with our global nutrition targets.  


If governments, organizations, and donors around the world spent an additional $2 billion annually over the next 10 years, we could save 2.2 million lives — and reduce stunting in 50 million children. 50 MILLION children!

Image via iStock.

Right now, malnutrition is killing 3 million children a year, contributing to 45% of all deaths of kids under 5, and costing our world billions of dollars in lost productivity.

Did I mention it's completely preventable?

In 2012, the World Health Assembly (WHA), composed of 194 member states, endorsed its first-ever plan to drastically improve nutrition in children in developing countries by 2025. They are focusing on six main targets: stunting, exclusive breastfeeding, wasting, anemia, low birthweight, and overweight. It's smart and awesome.

What's not awesome, though, is that they're not on track to hit any of those nutrition goals. Country governments and donors are spending $3.9 billion total on nutrition-specific programs, according to the World Bank. But that's not enough to close the gap and stay on track. If they were to come together and spend an additional $2.2 billion, they could get back on it.

Now, $2 billion a year sounds like quite a bit of money — until you put some things into perspective.

Here are five random expenditures that show why investing $2.2 billion in our future generations should be a no-brainer:

1. Americans spent close to a billion dollars on UNUSED gift cards in 2015.

Image via iStock.

More specifically, that's $973 million that's just sort-of ... THERE. It's just hanging out in a digital retail cloud somewhere, waiting to be used on apparel or appliances that, ironically, may actually remain unused.

2. Even more staggering: Americans spent $119 billion on gambling losses in 2013.

Image via iStock.

Not wins. Not even break-evens. LOSSES. I mean, if we could somehow pool just a fraction of that to create the most charitable pot the world has ever seen, wouldn't that be a win-win for everyone?

3. We're apparently a thirsty country — Americans spend $105.9 billion a year on beer.

Image via iStock.

Granted, there's no denying that people love their beer. But what if, like, instead of buying the usual "one for the road," we turned the equivalent into "one for a good cause"?

4. Americans spend over $10 billion on credit card late fees.

Image via iStock.

Yes, it can be cool to be fashionably late. But it's probably not $10 billion cool.

5. Americans spend over $42 billion at dollar stores.

Image via iStock.

If anything, this puts the whole "What if everyone just gave a dollar to help out?" argument in perspective.

Obviously, it's not the same to compare what Americans spent at dollar stores to what governments spend on nutrition programs in developing countries.

But it does help paint a clear picture of how much progress we can make in the world with relatively small amounts of funding.

Image via iStock.

Americans think we spend an average of 26% of our U.S. budget on foreign assistance. But that number is actually less than 1%.

People have varying thoughts on the United States' role in foreign aid, but many times it's because they overestimate what we're actually contributing. When you think about it, investments in nutrition are so minimal, it's almost mind-boggling. Only about 1% percent of the U.S. budget goes to global programs that save lives (and the same is true for many countries). And these programs eventually actually save money because of increased global productivity and fewer health care costs.

Even spending less than 1% of our nearly $4 trillion federal budget, we've done so much good.

We've helped over 8 million people receive life-saving HIV treatment, reached 1 billion people with agricultural programs in the past 20 years, reduced death caused by malaria in children by 51% and reduced maternal mortality by over 50% worldwide. That all helps to keep the world healthier and our country safer. And those figures barely even scrape the surface of our progress.

Imagine if the U.S. stepped up to prioritize nutrition and invested just a little bit more. Our future could look a whole lot different.