FARMINGTON, Arkansas — As a part of a national initiative, Arby's has donated thousands of dollars to Farmington Public Schools to pay off students' lunch debt.
"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," Stuart Brown, Arby's Foundation's executive director, said.
According to the Arby's Foundation, they have donated $1 million to help relieve lunch debt for 762 schools across the United States this past January.
Of the $1 million, Farmington received $21,423 to pay off lunch debt for 394 students.
"We have meal debt because we feed all of our students regardless of their ability to pay," Wendy Burrus, Farmington's child nutrition director, said. "Even if they can't pay, we feed them. But, then we still have to keep a record of that."
For the districts that were chosen for funding, there were no requirements that needed to be met in order to apply. Once the applications went through, districts were encouraged to ask for the full amount of their current student lunch debt.
"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," Brown said.
Watch 5NEWS on YouTube.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.