Last week, Hess Pumice representatives Jake Hess and Mike Hess Jr presented a check for just over six thousand dollars to Oneida School District #351 Superintendent Dallan Rupp, joined by the district’s principals, Sarah McIntyre, Josh Smith, and Robert Hannah.  The check, totaling exactly $6,060.16, represented the charitable donations of Hess Pumice employees, as well as a 100% match from Hess Pumice.  

“What happens is, every year we go to the employees and ask for a charitable donation for the community.  So, whatever the employees donate, we match it.  The employees donated just over three thousand dollars.  We also ask them where they want the money to go.  ‘you guys—it’s your money, you tell us where you want your money to go. 

This year, several of them came in again and said we’d like to donate to the school system.  A couple of them have spouses that work in the school system, and of course a lot of them have kids in the schools.  Their kids have come home and mentioned that ‘hey, we’d really to help the kids have a warm lunch.’  The goal was to grant enough money to have every kid in the schools have a warm lunch for at least two months.  We think this will help the kids a lot,” Mike Hess, Jr. said.

Superintendent Dallan Rupp explained, “It’s tricky to determine who has a need for it.  Normally the way we do it, is they fill out a form for free and reduced lunch.  But we do have a lot of people who are right on the edge of that cutoff that can sometimes have a hard time paying.  This money will help families that are struggling to pay bills right now, and help their kids have a hot lunch.”  

“We have been given enough money here to apply them to the overdue charges that exist.  No student will have overdue charges from this point back.  They’ve really taken a big burden off the community and the students who are in that situation right now.  From here going forward, we’re going to look at using the remaining funds to apply to the overdue charges for students that have applied for free and reduced lunches, whether they qualify or not, so no student will have to receive a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

To put a point on it, the extra funds will go to pay overages as they occur, but only in the case of students who have applied (again, whether the application has been accepted or not) for free and reduced lunches.  Those funds, however, are not likely to outpace the need more than a few months at the most optimistic.  

School lunch funds have been an issue across the country throughout the existence of public schooling.  Changes in food preparation guidelines, health recommendations, food suppliers, medical and scientific evidence, and many other aspects of “hot lunch” have made each generation’s school lunch experience somewhat unique.  Compound that by adding in the regional dietary attitudes and flavor profiles of each geographic area, and it can be more inconsistent than you might immediately think.

One thing that is a common thread, however, is the need to fund those lunches.  The adage “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” is ultimately more true than ever in the school lunch world.  The National School Lunch Program was created in 1946 as a way to stabilize farm prices by providing a ready market for surplus farm product, and to provide meals to America’s children, many of whom had inconsistent access to a full range of dietary necessities.  The direct connection to farm economics is not as central as it initially was, but the need for healthy food available for children has only increased.  As of the last officially recorded number, the NSLP states that it served nearly 30 million students in 2024, with just over 21 million receiving free or reduced lunches.  The program estimates that even more of the 30 million financially qualify for the free or reduced pricing, but for a variety of reasons do not apply for it.

And that’s where the “no free lunch” part comes in.  Free and reduced lunches through the program are accounted for by payments to the school district based on the number of qualified applicants.  Students who qualify but don’t apply, and then carry an unpaid balance at the end of the year, are not accounted for by federal lunch funds.  The deficit falls to the school district to compensate for in whatever way it can.    

Funds to cover the remaining unpaid balances come out of the budget that the school district could use for many other student support services.  

Because everyone agrees that no student should go hungry at school, the school provides a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 

Jake Hess, Dallan Rupp, Josh Smith, Sarah McIntyre, Bob Hannah, and Mike Hess, Jr., with the Hess Pumice employee (and Hess match) donation to the School Lunch program at the district office.

The donation from Hess and its employees will effectively clear the balance for the district, allowing it to have a fresh start as the new year approaches.  “We are a part of this community, and our employees make us what we are.  This is them—and all of us—giving back in a way that we think is really important and we’re happy to support,” Mike Hess, Jr said.

The hope is that this will represent a shift in thinking on the part of everyone involved.  The school district would benefit greatly from an accurate count of students that qualify for free and reduced lunch.  That percentage is one of the things that is extremely helpful in applying for grants and other potential sources of financial support for the district.  

Free and reduced lunch applications are easily available through the school district, and applying is essentially anonymous.  Applications, whether they are approved or denied, are critical to the record keeping needed by the district.