'We want to serve families as best we can': NKC Schools helps relieve lunch debt for thousands of families

The North Kansas City Schools Education Foundation raised enough money last year to wipe out meal debt for more than 1,100 families and reduce balances for another 2,000. In total, the program helped more than 3,000 families across the district.

School meal debt is a growing issue across the country, topping $200 million each year. And families in the North Kansas City School District are feeling that strain too.

About half of our students here at NKC Schools qualify for free and reduced lunch, which is something like 11,000 students, said Midori Carpenter, Director of the North Kansas City Schools Education Foundation. We know our students learn best when their basic needs are met.

Carpenter says the number of families struggling with meal costs has risen sharply since the end of the f