Numerica Eliminates Elementary Student Meal Debt

Numerica Credit Union generously donated $1,225.50 to the Wenatchee School District as part of a regional effort to address student lunch debt for low-income elementary students. This holiday season, Numerica contributed a total of $25,000 throughout Spokane, North Idaho, Tri-Cities and Wenatchee to address the growing impact of student lunch debt.

Student lunch debt among Wenatchee School District's seven elementary schools totaled $1,033.13. The remaining $192.37 of donated funds will be applied toward middle school and high school debt, which totals just over $4,300.

"Numerica's generosity will completely erase the elementary debt and pave the way for families to focus on encouraging their children to eat healthy and nutritious meals," said Wenatchee School District nutrition service director Chris Lutgen 

In 2019, four Wenatchee elementary schools (Columbia, Lewis & Clark, Lincoln, and Mission View ) qualified for a federally-funded program that allows all students in those schools to eat breakfast and lunch at no cost. Despite this qualification, students had accumulated negative meal balances from previous years or attended other non-qualified schools and had difficulty paying regular or reduced meal costs. 

The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced lunch under the National School Lunch Program provides a proxy measure for the concentration of low-income students within a school. Wenatchee's School District elementary average free or reduced lunch rate is 61.8 percent. Some schools, such as Columbia and Lincoln Elementary, are over 80 percent. 

"Supporting quality nutrition services and education for our community's children is one way that Numerica fulfills its promise of enhancing lives, fulfilling dreams and building communities," said Kim Pearman-Gillman, SVP of corporate and community relations. "Numerica recognized the burden that student lunch debt can have on families' wellbeing and is proud to help address student lunch debt with a $25,000 investment throughout the region this holiday season."

A check was presented to the District on December 20th at Lincoln Elementary School by Jessica Clay, Numerica's Wenatchee branch Business Development Officer and Andy Stirling SVP of Central Washington Region.