Pastor Shares How Glen Burnie Church Paid Off School Lunch Debt

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Across the country, mysterious strangers have stepped forward to pay off students' negative lunch accounts. Recently, an Anne Arundel County church decided to heed the call to help local students at nearly 60 schools by paying off their lunch accounts. While church leaders aren't disclosing the full amount of the donation, Abundant Life Church's lead pastor Nathan Drye spoke with Patch about the mission.

While every child is fed lunch even with a negative account at Anne Arundel County Public Schools, not all students qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program.

"Those that don't qualify and aren't able to pay for lunch accrue debt. We wanted to help those kids," Drye told Patch.

The church in Glen Burnie designated its special Christmas offering for this very purpose, Drye said, and helped more than 2,500 students.

"This year's goal included this project and others," he said. "We didn’t pay off the entire district, but we did pay off 59 schools."

Paying off students' lunch account debt isn't the only way Abundant Life Church has helped area youth and its gestures of kindness aren't limited to the many kids and teens who attend church there.

"In 2019 alone, over $130,000 of outreach was funneled into the surrounding community and the globe. From blessing our homeless neighbors, to filling school pantries, to providing backpacks for kids going back to school, to Christmas gifts, to monthly sponsorships with Compassion International and Assemblies of God missionaries to paying off lunch debt, it is amazing to serve and lead such a loving church community," Drye said.

The donation from the church went to the 21st Century Education Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports the activities of Anne Arundel County Public Schools and its students, with the specific purpose of paying off lunch debt in the Chesapeake, Glen Burnie, Meade, North County, Northeast and Old Mill feeder systems.

Last year, AACPS served more than 5.9 million lunches and 3.5 million breakfasts in schools. In addition to breakfast and lunch, the school system also serves free early evening meals at 45 sites and operates a summer meals program. More than 27,000 Anne Arundel County Public Schools students, about 32 percent, qualify for free and reduced-price meals.