Arby’s Foundation Pays Off School Lunch Debt For Over 500 Collinsville Students

The Arby's Foundation has paid off lunch debt for over 500 students in Collinsville (FILE).

COLLINSVILLE, Okla. (KTUL) — The Arby’s Foundation has paid off lunch debt for over 500 students in Collinsville.

In January, the Arby’s Foundation donated one million dollars to pay off school lunch debt for more than 47,000 students at 762 schools across the country.

Arby’s donated $29,000 to Collinsville Public Schools to completely pay off the lunch debt for 580 students.

“Childhood hunger is something that no one should ever have to face, and school lunch should be a time that kids look forward to without worrying if they’ll have a meal that day,” said Stuart Brown, Executive Director of the Arby’s Foundation.
We’re honored to have partnered with so many local school districts to help those students enjoy lunchtime with their classmates and ease the burden on parents.”

The Arby’s Foundation said it believes reliable access to meals is ‘ground zero’ for a child’s success.

Since 2011, the Foundation has given more than $30 million to organizations dedicated to finding systemic solutions to childhood hunger with the hope of allowing kids to focus on building, expanding, and pursuing their dreams rather than worrying about their next meal.

Data used by Arby’s reports that there is $19 million in unpaid meal debt and 30 million students who cannot afford their meals across the country.