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Cafeteria Worker Fired For Giving Free Lunch To Hungry Students

Cafeteria Worker Fired For Giving Free Lunch To Hungry Students


A kitchen manager at Dakota Valley Elementary School in Aurora, Colorado, recently lost her job for giving out free school lunches. Della Curry says she was fired by the Cherry Creek School District for giving lunch to the students that didn’t have any money to pay for their lunches. According to the school district rules, any child that fails to qualify for the free or reduced lunch program is only able to receive a single slice of cheese on a hamburger bun, and a small carton of milk.

Curry, a married mother of two, stated that she did the deed because she couldn’t handle looking at hungry children crying because they couldn’t afford school lunch. She feels as though the meal the school district considers giving children that can’t afford their lunch is unacceptable. Della Curry also stated that she would often pay for the lunches out of her own pocket, and many of the kids she gave free lunch to didn’t qualify for the free or reduced lunch program.

“I had a first grader in front of me, crying, because she doesn’t have enough money for lunch. Yes, I gave her lunch. Kids whose parents make too much money to qualify, but a lot of times they don’t have enough money to eat.”

Cherry Creek School District said that Della Curry violated policy by giving the young students free lunches. Curry stated that she has no regrets feeding hungry children, and the districts needs to change its lunch policy.

“I’ll own that I broke the law. The law needs to change. If me getting fired for it is one way that we can try to change this, I’ll take it in a heartbeat.”