GRACE held a trivia night to pay off school debt

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. (WFHR / WIRI) – In many school districts, seniors who aren’t able to pay off lunch debt, or other debt they’ve accrued throughout their education aren’t allowed to cross the stage on graduation day.

They can even be taken to small claims court over these debts. GRACE is working to change that in South Wood County. The Greater Rapids Area Churches for Ecumenism is a group formed from several area churches. This year, they are again raising funds to help pay off student debt.

Why is this needed?

According to the Education Data Initiative, Wisconsin has 202,600 children who are considered food insecure. The school meal debt in the state is over $112-million. Schools cannot use federal child nutrition funds to pay off meal debts. They have to write it off as an operating loss if they aren’t able to collect the debt from students or their parents/guardians.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn’t have much say over meal debt policy. It’s mainly left in the hands of state and local school officials and can vary from district to district. The only state-wide policy in Wisconsin is the state will pay an additional $0.15 for breakfast and lunch. 20.5 million students in the United States qualify for free school lunches. 900,000 pay a reduced price for school meals and only 8.3 million pay the full price.

GRACE

Kate West is the current President of the GRACE group. She’s also the Minister of the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Wisconsin Rapids. She said the group formed after the Cranberry Clergy Group disbanded during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clergy who want to participate hold worship services together and service mission outreach in a non-denominational fashion.

Currently, there are five area churches who participate. First Congregational Church UCC, Grace Lutheran, and the Moravian Church all in Wisconsin Rapids. United Methodist Church in Port Edwards, and Woodland Lutheran Church ELCA in Rome. The group meets on the first Wednesday of the month at noon. They rotate through the churches. West said anyone interested is encouraged to attend and bring a sack lunch. The next gathering is at Grace Lutheran on November 5th.

School debt

The GRACE group’s current community service mission is raising funds to pay off student debt. Last year, they paid off close to $3,000 of debt between Nekoosa and Wisconsin Rapids schools. They start with seniors and work down the grades until the funds are exhausted.

“Wisconsin Rapids and Nekoosa in particular have policies where if a student has excessive debt, whether it’s from registration fees, meals, or any types of things, they can be taken to small claims court,” West explained. “If there’s a graduating senior, they can be prohibited from participating in graduation ceremonies.”

West said if they ever get to the point where school debt is eliminated in the area, they’ll look at raising funds to help with medical bills or utility debt.

Trivia night at B’s Tap House

Reverend Beth Rohn-Habhegger is the pastor at the Moravian Church. She and her husband Seth hosted the trivia night at B’s Tap House on Oct. 5. The 2 Doors Down Brewing Co. opened for this event on a Sunday when they’re normally closed. They also donated the cash tips from the night. A total of $1339 was raised between the trivia, silent auction, and free will donation.

Rohn-Habhegger said the event was well attended and well received.

“We’re very aware, thanks to the United Way, of those ALICE families who are trying their best to meet their needs, but still struggle,” said Rohn-Habhegger. “This is one area where we can help alleviate some of that struggle so we’re grateful for the support of the community to help us do that.”

West and Rohn-Habhegger said the swell of support from local businesses really helps further the efforts of GRACE. They plan to do more trivia nights in the future. If you’d like to learn more, you can follow GRACE on their Facebook page or contact any of the churches involved through the links above.