GLENPOOL, Okla. -- A group of parents are teaming up to make sure kids in Glenpool do not go hungry at school.
Cassie Pound, a mother of six, said she started looking into a way to achieve that goal after she forgot to replenish her son's lunch money recently.
She said her son was given the alternate lunch for people who cannot pay for a hot meal. The alternate consists of two pieces of bread with a piece of cheese and milk to drink. Pound said it was not nutritious or filling for her high school football player son.
The mother realized that a lot of students depend on the bread and cheese every day across the state.
"We have kids in this community who aren't getting a hot meal at night, so we need to make sure they are getting a hot meal at lunch," Pound said.
According to Feeding America, the child food insecurity rate in Oklahoma is at 22.6-percent, which is 4.7-percent higher than the national average.
Pound started asking questions of the school and learned there was such a thing as an "angel account."
"You can walk through the line and you have your food and they put your little number in and if you're negative or you don't have the money, that cashier can then use that account and as long as there is money in the account, they can feed the child [a hot meal] that day," Pound said.
Anyone can put money in the "angel account" and it goes to any student in need, so they can have a hot meal like everyone else.
The alternative meals often times have a stigma for kids. Parents can sign their kids up for the free or reduced meals but that too can be embarrassing.
"We have enough pressures on our children in the school system between what they're wearing, who their friends are, after school with their social media and what they're being pressured to do," Marvin Manns, a father in Glenpool, said.
Pound got together with other parents who understood the dire need to make sure these kids are fed.
In about thirty minutes on September 15, Pound, Manns and William Bartmann raised $1,500.
"We feel like it is not the kids fault they are not getting to eat," Bartmann said.
They set their goal at $5,000. Currently they have $3,500.
"If you have $5 to give, $10 to give, $20 to give, please do," Manns said.
The plan is to divide the money between the elementary, middle and high schools. According to the USDA, Glenpool Elementary does qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision so all students get free lunch based on the poverty level in the school.
"This is not just a Glenpool issue," Pound said. "I would encourage everyone to reach out to your school and find out if your school has an angel account or something that gives these kids an alternative."
Glenpool Schools' administration said they fully support the parents initiative.
Monetary donations can be dropped off at Mann's State Farm Office, Quality Heat and Air or Lead Investments.
The youth cheerleaders and youth football programs will be collecting donations at the homecoming tailgate Tuesday evening for the "angel account."
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