Lehigh County community comes together to make sure all kids get lunch

A Lehigh Community is coming together to make sure all kids get fed and lunch shaming is no more.

"The scope of it blows my mind every time I see it," Ziad Munsen said.

It is the growing number of families in the East Penn School District who are struggling just to pay for their children's lunch

Dr. Ziad Munsen is a parent in the district and a school board member. He says until this year if students didn't have enough money in their lunch account they were basically shamed.

"When it was determined they couldn't actually pay, the lunch would be thrown away, and then they were given at the time the policy was an alternative lunch, which is horrifying," Munsen said.

That policy changed over the summer and now all students get the same lunch even if their account is delinquent.

Still, with 1 in 5 families in the district qualifying for free or reduced lunches many have fallen way behind. That's why Munsen is part of a community effort to find solutions. He started a GoFundMe for needy families.

"The goal of the GoFundMe was to eliminate that source of stress among families who clearly have lots of other stressors in their lives," Munsen said.

The fundraiser has taken off and plenty of parents love the idea.

It's getting an important conversation started about what's happening not just here but in many school districts.

"I think its raising awareness of the problem so the community can mobilize for some longer term solutions," Munsen said.

To help visit the GoFundMe setup, here.