Lunch Angels continue paying off overdue lunch debts for students in Durham, Orange counties

Three business owners have branched into the business of blessings, as they continue to assist area schools in paying off their overdue lunch debts.

Dubbed the "Lunch Angels," Walt Winfrey and Kyle Newman, co-owners of Craige Motor Co., and Erik Neill, chief instructor and owner of Neill’s Taekwondo and Fitness, are continuing work they began in 2014, paying off the past-due balances of student lunch accounts in public schools.

in 2014, the "Lunch Angels" donated to 13 elementary schools, including Durham's Pearsontown Elementary School, Newman said. He said free-and-reduced lunch programs vary among school districts, but the need for assistance is greater in Durham.

“The impact we’ve been able to have at Pearsontown has been truly powerful,” Newman said. “I even had one teacher pull me aside and point out a specific student they knew we were really helping out. It makes me smile.”

Winfrey, Newman and Neill donated $840 to Pearsontown Elementary to pay off lunch debt in 2014. The team donated $700 to Pearsontown again on Monday — the angels' first lunch debt donation of the year, covering the school's debts since their previous payment.

Neil said he wants to give back to the school systems that gave to him. He said the lunch donation program seeks to ensure that children can feel confident about getting a hot meal each day.

“There is no reason a kid should ever go hungry,” Neill said. “We want the nutrition and health of students to be a high priority within the schools. Students can’t focus on the academic aspect of school if they are malnourished.”

Neill, Winfrey and Newman also want to offset the end-of-the-year lunch debts that would take money out of the school district’s pockets and diminish the funding for other needs such as textbooks.

Newman said the "Lunch Angels" are still determining which schools they are going to be able to help this year but hope to cover both Orange and Durham counties. He said one of the group's primary goals is to relieve 11 schools in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district of their collective overdue lunch balance of $1,800.

Liz Cartano, director of child nutrition for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, said some students’ overdue balances are a result of families forgetting to pay or forgetting to submit free-and-reduced lunch applications on time. But she said the donations impact the at-risk students who don't have the means to pay these bills.

"I think it’s very admirable, what they are doing,” Cartano said. “It takes the pressure off of a lot of those struggling families, so they don’t have to worry about paying another bill.”

Neil said the lunch program donations impact education at all levels — from the students to the teachers to school districts as a whole.

“It’s surprising how far a little goes,” Neill said. “Unfortunately, we live in a state where educational funding is lacking, but with even just $1,000, we’re really helping the students who can’t help themselves.”

Newman said the "Lunch Angels" want as many small business owners to be involved with the lunch donation project as possible. The group has already received sponsorships from other local businesses, including Chapel Hill's Time-Out Restaurant, Newman said. He said they are also negotiating sponsorships from The Persian Carpet Inc. and Foster’s Market of Durham.

If local businesses invest in the community by supporting its students, the community will be better off in the future, Neill said.

Neill said if local businesses invest in the community by supporting students, the community will be better off in the future.

Neill, Winfrey and Newman would also like to see UNC’s Greek community and other student organizations get involved with the cause’s fundraising.

“We’re telling people that if you see something wrong, change it,” Newman said. “We’re very pleased with the effect we’ve been able to have, and we want it to continue.”

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