Maryland parish pays off public school lunch debt for entire county

A Catholic parish in Frederick, Maryland, is putting the Churchʼs call to care for the poor into action by eliminating school lunch debt for students across the county, building on years of providing weekend meals to children in need.

Since 2014, St. Katharine Drexel Parish has partnered with Yellow Springs Elementary School to provide weekend meals for students who depend on free or reduced-price lunches during the school week. Parish volunteers say the ministry grew out of a desire to ensure children would not go hungry when school was not in session.

This spring, the parish expanded that outreach by donating $11,800 to Frederick County Public Schools, paying off outstanding school lunch debt for every family in the district.

“We recognized that this is a bigger issue than just one elementary school,” Brian McCrohan, pastoral associate at St. Katharine Drexel Parish, told EWTN News. “With the cost of inflation and grocery budgets being stretched, families who may not qualify for free meals are still having a hard time making ends meet.”

The parish learned the total amount of unpaid lunch debt from the school system and brought the need before its Social Justice Ministry.…