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The Dine with Dignity Fund helps students who cannot afford a lunch, but do not qualify for free meal as part of the USDA Free And Reduced-priced Meals System (FARMS), have access to traditional lunch options. Contributions to this fund will go to schools to settle unpaid lunch balances accrued during the school year, and allow students to receive a traditional lunch option even if they are in debt.
In November 2018, Montgomery County Public Schools stopped the practice of issuing alternative meals to students with negative school lunch balances. Unfortunately, this alternative meal signaled the students' indebtedness to their peers, increasing the potential for the students to feel humbled.
For the FY2022 school year, the USDA is waiving the collection of school lunch fees. In response, the MCPS Educational Foundation is launching a new campaign that will give donors up to 18 months (July 2021 through December 2022) to fund a school sponsorship by making a recurring gift of a modest amount. The Dine with Dignity Sponsorship Program has a goal of signing up a sponsor for each of the 206 MCPS schools. School sponsorship can be achieved with a monthly contribution starting as low as $2.80 per month.
Sponsor a school or make a donation to the program more generally below. Either way, your donation will help enable every student to dine with dignity.
Use this form to make a secure online payment by credit card, by debit card, or by electronic check. Payment amounts below will be assessed a 2.598% + $0.26 processing fee. To designate a specific class, grade, school, or cluster, please specify your request in the comment field below.
Select the payment amount and press Donate Now to complete your contribution.