How kindness is filling the gaps as U.S. school lunch debt soars to nearly $200 million a year

During lunchtime at Silver Crest Elementary in Herriman, Utah, every child gets a tray, but not every family can afford to pay — one-third of students have lunch debt.

Nationwide student lunch debt has soared to nearly $200 million per year, according to a report released in August by the Education Data Initiative. In Utah, it’s almost $4 million. As the bills mount, everyday Utahns are stepping up to make sure no child goes hungry.

“I thought that number seemed insane. I didn’t think it was real,” said single father DJ Bracken.

After finding out that one of his neighborhood schools was more than $800 in the red, Bracken decided to act.

“When I offered to pay it, it was sort of a surprisingly mundane interaction for how impactful it ended up being, because they’re like, yeah you can write a check and walk in and pay off the entire debt. And that’s exactly what I did,” Bracken said.

After using his own money, Bracken created the Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation, paying off the debt of more than 30 schools through donations, including the one his daughter attends.

Special education teacher Kati Jo Christensen took a different approach.

“I wanted to do something positive, so I just decided to try to reach out on TikTok, and it just kind of morphed into me dancing on TikTok,” Christensen said.

Her videos have almost 2 million likes, earning her close to $30,000, all of which she has donated to erase school lunch debt.

Although kindness is filling the gaps, Bracken believes it’s up to lawmakers to step up.

“Where are my taxes going if not to feeding kids? And I think that resonates with citizens across the country — where are they going?” Bracken said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, school lunches were free, but that ended in 2022. Only nine states have adopted free meals permanently —  California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York and Vermont.

“Right now in our country, there are few problems that we can agree on, and I think nutrition and education obviously go hand in hand,” Bracken said.

Bracken is now working toward systemic change, pushing Utah to broaden free lunch access.

Christensen’s dance moves get laughs online, but she gets emotional talking about the mission behind them.

“It’s hard. It’s really hard, because these kids don’t understand. They deserve to be thought of, they deserve to be loved and they deserve to be fed. That’s just a basic human right,” Christensen said.