Laconia Rod & Gun Club donates $5K toward school lunch debt

LACONIA — Members of the Laconia Rod & Gun Club always have an ear out to how they can help local children and families. The organization recently donated $5,000 to the Laconia School District to help pay off student lunch debt.

“We wanted to do our part to help with that, and we would like to challenge local businesses to help with this,” said club Treasurer Ron Judd. “One thing we don’t want to see is kids going without eating lunch. Period.”

Judd, along with club President Greg Lafoe, presented the check to the Laconia School Board on Nov. 18. School District Business Administrator Diane Clary said she was contacted by Laconia Rod & Gun Club Auxiliary President Kara Murray about the lunch debt after reading articles about it in The  Sun. She asked Clary to send information about this, which was presented to members of the club.

“They wanted to be assured that it would offset the lunch debt,” Clary said.

The lunch debt balance was $50,000 in the 2023-24 school year, which then increased to $70,000. Clary said thanks to receiving more applications for free and reduced lunch this year, the district’s lunch debt is decreasing. This year, the debt total sits at $19,000, after the $5,000 donation from the club.

“We have 80 more families on free and reduced lunch this year compared to last year,” Clary said.

Lunch debt does continue to be an issue, Clary said, and this year, a new system is in place at the high school, with cash or debit only for a la carte items. These include things like French fries, soda, ice cream, chips, fruit snacks, sliced fruit, and pudding.

The change in the payment method was intended to reduce the debt total, as well as district staff encouraging families to sign up for free and reduced lunch. Clary said families should apply even if they don’t think they are eligible, as the requirements change year to year, based on things like inflation.

Free and reduced lunch eligibility is based on several factors, and if a family receives supplemental nutritional assistance benefits, they automatically qualify. The application is based on income and the number of people in a household.

Laconia students use meal plan accounts through MealTime, where parents can deposit funds to purchase school breakfast and lunch. The cost of breakfast is $2, and lunch is $3.75. MealTime cannot be used for a la carte items.

Clary said they are careful not to embarrass students by talking about having a negative balance, and will instead talk to parents or guardians directly. However, the district is required to provide breakfast and lunch for students, whether they are in good standing, or not. Negative balances have ranged from just a few dollars to upwards of $800.

While she is reluctant to blame the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 and 2021, students could receive free breakfast and lunch without applying. When this was phased out, families were not used to having to pay for their children’s meals.

This past fall, the district instituted a separate cash register for students to purchase a la cart items.

“It has really been working out well,” Clary said. “A couple days into the year we had to educate some kids, but since then, it has been running smoothly.”

Clary said they will have a better idea at the end of the school year how the changes helped, but she said all indications show it has been successful.

“We will see what the revenues against the expenses are, and usually, we have a fund balance to put toward the food service debt,” she said.

Clary said no child will ever be turned away for food, noting when there was a “snafu” about SNAP benefits, the district made sure there was food available for all students.

Clary has a new plan in the works to include a separate line in the budget just for the school lunch debt. Each year, a single dollar is put into the line as a placeholder, but she hopes to make sure there is enough budgeted in case there is no available fund balance.

Clary said the food service budget is separate from the district’s general fund, which runs school operations. Donations, such as what came from the Rod & Gun Club, “help a great deal.”

This is the first time the district has received a donation from the Rod & Gun Club for lunch debt, and before the check arrived, Clary didn’t know how much the district would be receiving. She was pleasantly surprised and called it a “very nice donation.”

“School funding is always a tight rope walk, so any little bit helps us to stay even,” Clary said. “This is a nice big boost for us. We definitely have generous people in the community.”

Judd said helping the community, especially children, is a top priority for the club. They often help fund the Got Lunch! program, which he stressed is important for children in the summer.

The club has monthly meetings to discuss assisting the community financially. A main fundraiser is the Santa Jam, which celebrated its 50th year, and recently raised a total of $27,000, which will help 73 families and more than 170 children.

Members of the club met with families to set up two shopping nights at Walmart to get items for food baskets for Christmas dinner.

Other fundraisers are held throughout the year, including pool tournaments, chili cookoffs and a fishing day at Gunstock Mountain for hundreds of children in May.

In this case, the $5,000 donation to the school district was earmarked specifically for lunch debt. Judd said when they saw the debt they were dealing with was in the tens of thousands, it was an easy decision to provide district staff funds to alleviate the cost.

“There are a lot of different ways to raise money to help the community,” Judd said. “This is what the club is all about.”