Some 7th through 12th graders in Salem, Ohio no longer have to worry about paying part of their school lunch debts — because VFW Post 892 donated $900 to Salem City Schools to help pay it off.
"I'm not ashamed to say I teared up," Food Service Director Michele Fisher told WKBN.
The Salem School District has a no charge policy for school lunches at the elementary level so, for some students, the debt balance has been accumulating day after day for years. Thanks to the VFW, some of that accumulation has been lifted.
"A lot of people think it's just a place that a bunch of old Vietnam vets...sit around, and drink beer and tell war stories but we're way more than that," commander for Post 892 Doug Brannon told WKBN.
Brannon also has a son in Salem City Schools. The idea to donate funds to alleviate school lunch debt came from a walk through the kitchen when Brannon dropped his son off at school.
"I asked her questions about unpaid lunches or how that went about, and she told me they did have unpaid lunches and she told me the amount," Brannon said.
VFW Post 892 also donates funds to help youth sports teams, events, and veterans in need.
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