‘Life Changing’: North County teen pays off student lunch debts at Hazelwood school
14-year-old DeJuan Strickland paid off the school lunch debts for every student at McCurdy Elementary.
By Melanie Johnson
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FLORISSANT, Missouri (KMOV) — A North County teen is paying off the school lunch debts for every student at his elementary school.
“Sometimes a kid’s only meal that they eat during the day is at school. If they don’t have the money to pay for that, then that is a big problem,” says 14-year-old DeJuan Strickland.
The young, comic book author has launched the “Tech Boy Initiative” as a way to raise money for students who can’t afford to buy food in the cafeteria.
Strickland remembers battling hunger at the lunch table when he was in 4th grade at McCurdy Elementary.
“I didn’t even know what could possibly be my next meal in the day, and it definitely was a struggle, he says. “Seeing all the other kids around me be able to eat their school lunches and I couldn’t, it was really rough.”
The 14-year-old created a GoFundMe to fill this need for other children.
The fundraiser has exceeded its goal. Now, every student’s lunch debt at McCurdy Elementary has been cleared and paid for.
DeJuan presented a check to the school’s principal just weeks before the start of the school year.
“Just being able to see that kids can finally be able to eat school lunches and not have to worry about the money or cost of it will be amazing, he says. “A life-changing experience just knowing that I helped impact other kids and helped them out in their lives.”
DeJuan Strickland will attend St. Louis University High School in the fall.
Strickland plans to continue to eliminate negative lunch balances every year.
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