Army Vet Fighting Collections for Kids Lunch Money
Stories like this drive me crazy.
According to WTEN, 51 year old George White from Indiana is an Army Veteran and after battling defending our freedoms for 8 years, he is now battling a collection agency over lunch money for his children.
White told WTEN that he enlisted in the Army when he was 17 and was sent to Saudi Arabia in Operation Desert Storm. He received an honorable discharge with three bronze service stars after 8 years of service.
Shelbyville, the school district where White's children go to school has a new no food shame policy, which means that the school doesn't offer a full meal to kids because of lunch money issues.
The collection agency is after White for more than $562 in past due lunch money for his 3 kids.
White told WTEN that he receives a VA check and food stamps each month but that doesn't cover the entire month and in the past they always qualified for free food at school but with the new policy they no longer do.
It's not like he doesn't want to pay the money owed, he said, "I wish I had the money to pay it but I don't have the money."
The school said they can't comment on any of this because of federal privacy rules.
The good news is that once the Department of Veterans Affairs heard about this situation, they connected the White family with a "military relief fund" that will help in this situation.