When the federal government ended a COVID-era program to provide free meals to every student in 2022, school meal debt in Kansas skyrocketed beyond pre-pandemic levels.
In the Valley Center school district, sixth grader Lizzy Chobad is organizing an effort to pay off other students’ meal debt — with a goal to end meal debt there entirely.
It was an experience during the season of giving that led 12-year-old Lizzy to question why people don’t give more during the rest of the year.
Lizzy volunteered this past Christmas to hand out presents with the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree, a program that collects holiday gifts for families in need.
“I asked my mom: ‘How come we don't do that for like, birthdays, and we can't do that all year round?’” Lizzy said. “And so we thought of some way to give all year round to kids still and back to the community.”
That’s when she got the idea to sell T-shirts as a fundraiser to tackle student meal debt in Valley Center schools.
Lizzy sells the shirts through a family friend’s online storefront. Right now, she offers two different shirt designs: one with Valley Center Hornets branding and another that says “Be Kind.”
Her mom, Kelli, said that shirt has been a big hit in the community.
“So Lizzy’s goal is to keep it going by making new designs for the ‘Be Kind,’” Kelli Chobad said. “Lizzy has always had a ‘be kind’ philosophy, a ‘be kind’ heart.”
Lizzy plans to eventually put the designs on tumbler cups, which are popular among kids her age.
So far, Lizzy has raised about $900, with a goal of raising nearly $4,000. She said the community support has been encouraging.
“[People] want to be involved somehow, but not everybody also has the resources to be involved, and so I'm another way for them to get involved.”
Lizzy also hopes the program can one day be successful enough to establish a running account. The funds would be used to cover any new meal debt in the district.
School meal debt rising in Kansas
School meal debt has been on the rise across Kansas since 2022, when the federal government ended a COVID-era program to give free meals to all students.
A 2024 study by Kansas Appleseed found that total meal debt in Kansas was nearly 6 times what it was before the pandemic.
Jessica Kejr is a nutrition access specialist with Kansas Appleseed. She said school meal debt can create a stigma against kids with a negative balance.
“When students have meal debt, some skip lunch altogether. They just don't even want to be in the line,” she said. “They don't want to be identified as ‘Why do I have to have a different meal?’”
Policies vary from district to district, but students with a negative balance often get an alternative meal. And those alternative meals are frequently smaller and less nutritious.
“So that impact of students who are not nutritionally getting what they need to learn and focus and stay on task for the day, but then also feeling singled out,” Kejr said.
Many districts pay off student meal debt at the end of the year, pulling funds from other areas in the budget. Some districts instead send the debt to collectors.
To address the problem on a systematic level, anti-hunger advocates say lawmakers could adopt standards on handling meal debt — or even just pay for all student meals up front.
But for now, the state is relying in-part on organizers like Lizzy to ensure kids can afford a proper meal at school.
Lizzy’s shirts are on sale here.
