The list of local needs that islanders can contribute to has recently grown as a group of island citizens has revived outreach efforts about a meal assistance fund to help families struggling to pay off school meal accounts.

According to islander Shauna Ahern, who has taken the lead on the project, Vashon Island School District (VISD) families owe $3,000 in unpaid lunch accounts. The district has an existing account from previous donations made for the purpose of paying off meals, but the account has less than $1,000.

“They (VISD) estimate that it would cost another $2,000 to pay off those accounts that won’t be paid. We can certainly raise that money,” she said. “And if we raise more, it can go into the account for families that can’t pay, to help people in the future.”

The school district offers a free and reduced lunch program that 22 percent of the district’s students use. Students in all grades who qualify for free and reduced lunch receive free breakfast. When it comes to lunches, students in kindergarten through third grade receive free lunch, even if they are on the reduced lunch plan. Students in the fourth through 12th grades are charged 40 cents for lunch.

“There are homeless kids who attend Vashon Island schools. Kids with extreme needs. Unaccompanied youth who surf on the couches of friends and family members. And for many of those students, the food they receive at school is most of the food they eat that day,” Ahern said. “However, there are also families who officially made $100 a year more than the legal cut-off for the free and reduced lunch program and cannot qualify for food. That doesn’t mean they have enough money for lunch every day.”

Ahern continued to say that for those families who cannot qualify for free and reduced lunch, an entire school year of breakfast and lunch will cost about $990. Many of the chronically unpaid accounts are in this category of families who cannot afford the 40 cents for lunch.

“Let’s do it. Let’s help our fellow families,” Ahern said.

The push to help these students started last week when an islander posted a screenshot to an island Facebook group from a woman saying that paying off school lunch accounts could be a good deed for the day. Islander Linda Weiss posted the photo and asked if there was a need on Vashon. The post garnered plenty of attention with nearly 30 comments and 95 likes. So began the community-led fundraiser for the Vashon Student Meal Assistance Fund.