Republic file photo An exterior view of Columbus North High School.
A high school food pantry has arranged a special gift for families in the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.
Columbus North High School’s Bull Dog Pantry has paid off the lunch accounts of all BCSC students with a negative balance. Pantry coordinator Tonya Cruser launched a social media fundraiser for the cause on Dec. 19. By Dec. 22, she had raised enough to cover students’ debts, which totaled just under $6,000.
“It wasn’t a sole effort,” said Cruser. “I mean, I’m the one who threw the idea out there and I’m the one who runs the pantry, but people donating and people sharing my post even if they couldn’t donate — that’s what really brought it all together.”
She did something similar in 2019; however, that time she used funds that were already in the pantry’s account. This time, she raised the money from zero, though she would have used the account too if she fell short of the goal.
Cruser estimated that the funds it took to cover students’ debts in 2022 was about twice what it cost in 2019.
In discussing what inspired her to launch the fundraiser, Cruser said it had been on her mind since the last time she paid off students’ accounts. Additionally, the end of universal free meals for students is something that concerns her.
“I just always hate the thought of prisoners getting three free meals a day, and yet our own children can’t have that,” she said. “And I realize that there’s free and reduced lunch, but not everyone qualifies for that. And some people are just on the line of that, and so they still struggle even though they don’t qualify.”
