Originally Posted by
DetroitTeacher
Some kids who COULD have money for lunch [[who don't qualify for free lunch) don't. It's that simple. I don't know why, nor do I care to know why. When you look at a kid who hasn't eaten anything since the day before, who is sitting in your class and you can actually HEAR their stomach rumbling...well, I say feed the kid [[and I usually do...I share what I have, go to the lunchroom and purchase a lunch and bring it back to class, whatever I have to do to get that kid fed). I'm not the only teacher who does this. Sometimes I am buying more than a few lunches and claim that the kids are "working on a project in my room during lunch". That allows me to save the kids some face and get their stomachs to stop rumbling. Nothing worse than hearing a kid's stomach rumble and know that they haven't had anything to eat for a day or two. Maybe their food stamps ran out [[and their parents wouldn't send in the free lunch form at the beginning of the year), maybe mom is sick and didn't get paid this week [[she doesn't have paid sick days), maybe mom is an addict and sold the bridge card, maybe they just got evicted and are living with someone else who doesn't provide a place to cook, maybe they have no electricity and can't keep food cold or heat it up, maybe all mom bought was a bag of chips and some crap juice for dinner last night. I really don't care about the WHY, I care about the kid and getting some food in their belly. This program will allow kids who COULD have lunch money but don't the opportunity to get something to eat. I can't believe some people are that cold and heartless that they would deny this to the kids. We can't punish the kids for what their parents are either doing or not doing.