All for Lunch was founded on one simple concept; EVERY CHILD SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO LUNCH AT SCHOOL. In 2017, All for Lunch founder Alessandra Ferrara-Miller heard a story on the news detailing an incident of the school lunch shaming of a young boy at an elementary school. With a 5-year-old daughter in kindergarten at the time, the reality of a child that young being denied lunch at school for financial reasons so far out of their control broke her heart and she knew something had to be done to help. Through her research, she found that lunch debt was a nationwide problem affecting kids in kindergarten through high school which came along with various forms of lunch shaming. From kids being sent home with stamps on their arms saying “I need lunch money,” to children doing custodial work in the cafeteria to pay for the cost of the meal, to having their lunch taken away in front of their classmates, and on and on children as young as 5 were experiencing these challenges daily as a result of financial circumstances completely out of their control.
All for Lunch relies 100% on donations to help support schools within the community to keep kids lunch debt free. Without your financial support, we would not be able to continue our work towards our mission of eliminating school lunch debt and making sure every child has access to lunch at school, regardless of their financial situation at home.