Over 7,000 students in Georgia with unpaid lunch balances are getting a helping hand following a $1 million initiative from the Arby’s Foundation, the nonprofit announced Thursday.
A total of 7,413 students in four public school districts in the metro Atlanta area will get their unpaid lunch debts paid, according to Arby’s, which confirmed to “Good Morning America” Friday that it had finalized $203,534 in donations to City Schools of Decatur, Cobb County School District, Henry County School District and Fulton County School District. The foundation said the remaining nearly $800,000 will be earmarked for other schools across the country and is estimated to help over 47,000 students.
“The Arby’s Foundation wholeheartedly believes that we should have reliable access to meals for children,” Arby’s brand president Rita Patel told “GMA.” “Our purpose is really making sure that we continue to fight childhood hunger but that we’re also supporting the communities where these children and families are thriving. So that’s where we spend a lot of our energy and we make sure that we do it, again, nationwide, and we leverage our franchisee partners to come along on that journey with us.”