Teen helps nonprofit pay off portion of Utah's $2.8M school lunch debt
When an Alta High School student reached out to the Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation to donate $2,500 to help relieve students' school lunch debt, DJ Bracken was in disbelief.
"That was the most incredible thing I'd ever heard," said Bracken, the nonprofit's founder and executive director.
High school junior David "Van" Hafner used his savings, combined with funds from the Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation, to help pay off Butler Elementary School's over $6,000 school lunch debt.
Bracken and Hafner presented the school with the check on Friday, March 21, marking the 12th school the foundation has helped make debt-free. Now, Hafner is planning to continue working with the Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation to help raise the funds necessary to erase three more schools' school lunch debt by the end of the summer.
"We certainly hope, going forward, that if more students want to come and help their community thrive, and help their fellow students pay down this debt, that is something we can facilitate and would love to do," Bracken said.
Bracken created the Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation in July 2024 and has since raised about $50,000 to address Utah's $2.8 million school lunch debt. He said it all began when he first learned about the state's school lunch debt in a news article and couldn't believe it was true.
"I called my local school district to verify that debt, and they said, 'Not only is it true that there is that much debt in state; just in your school district, just the elementary schools, there's $88,000 in debt,'" said Bracken. "And I said, 'OK, great; send me a list of the schools, and I'm just gonna start paying them off one by one.'"
He began by using his own money to pay Bluffdale Elementary School's $835 school lunch debt. Bracken then started the nonprofit in hopes others would feel inspired to help the cause. At first, he was worried the issue wouldn't gain traction in the community, but he was pleasantly surprised when the foundation raised $5,000 on Day 1. Since then, it has continued to gather donations to relieve schools of their lunch debt one by one.
However, the foundation does not only intend to pay off school lunch debt; its goal is to eliminate the problem as a whole by advocating for policy change. The Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation worked with advocates and state representatives during the recent legislative session to introduce HB100, a bill that would allow students who are currently eligible for reduced-price lunch to receive free lunch and breakfast at school.
"The number is just so significant that even if I had a corporate donor come in today and say, 'I'll give you $2.8 million,' it would just be back next year," Bracken said. "So we can get things like this passed and still help kids at the same time. That's how I know the organization is doing what it needs to do."
Sponsored by Rep. Tyler Clancy, R-Provo, the bill also includes provisions that would prevent students from being publicly stigmatized due to having a meal debt. According to Bracken, some school districts will send students' meal debt to collections in order to receive payment and then send students home with a collections notice to give to their parents. But this bill requires schools to communicate with parents directly rather than through students.
HB100 gained favor from both the Senate and the House during the legislative session and was signed into law by Gov. Spencer Cox on Tuesday.
"It's just really significant; I'm really proud to have been a part of the process," Bracken said.
While he feels significant progress has been made in the last year, he says Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation will continue to work as long as there is even $1 of student lunch debt. He expressed that the support the foundation has received is evidence to him that members of the community can work together to make change.
"I think, right now, there's a lot of cynicism out there — just the current environment we live in — and founding (Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation) really showed me that one person can make a difference with the power of other people, too," Bracken said. "Sometimes, you just take one step in the right direction, and everybody decides to come with you, and it's really been the case here."
More information about the Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation can be found at utldr.org.
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