Chris Monroe, a St. Peters, Missouri man, is helping pay down local school lunch debt by hand-carving for children in exchange for donations. Monroe started making the swords for his grandchildren a few years ago using YouTube tutorials, but demand grew as neighborhood kids learned about his woodworking. In the last three years, he estimates he’s created more than 100 swords. For each sword, Monroe asks for a monetary donation toward his mission of paying down school lunch debt at St. Louis area schools, telling families to donate “whatever they feel is fair” without looking at the amount.
At the end of each school year, Monroe compiles all donations and presents a check to a local school to pay down lunch debt in the name of each child he made a sword for. Last year he raised nearly $1,000 and hopes to surpass that this year. Missouri has over $138 million in student lunch debt statewide, with about 68% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches based on income criteria. Monroe is also expanding his efforts by creating new items to sell at a friend’s store in Washington, Missouri.
Source: FirstAlert4
