Church Group Pays Brick Students' School Lunch Debts

BRICK, NJ — A number of Brick Township parents got a surprise recently when they received a letter from the school district notifying them their children's school lunch debts had been paid off.

The form letters, which were mailed last week, notified parents and guardians that their children had owed money in the cafeteria but the debts were wiped out as of Dec. 4.

"The balance is $0.00 due to a donation given to the school district," the letters said. "It was stated that they wanted to help families pay their negative balances."

The letter did not name the donor, but district officials said Visitation Church and the St. Vincent DePaul Society had made a donation in October of $1,600 to pay off balances for students at Osbornville, Emma Havens Young and Drum Point elementary schools and Lake Riviera Middle School.

That amount was increased to $1,800, according to an agenda item for Thursday's Board of Education meeting. The meeting is set for 7 p.m. at Brick Township High School.

It was a welcome event. One parent who received the letter posted it on social media saying, "To the person with the kind soul, we thank you for your donation and paying off the district's school lunch debt!" She said she plans to pay the kindness forward.

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