I’ve stopped posting about school districts that are hiring collection agencies to go after individuals with unpaid debts related to school lunches because there never seems to be much interest in those situations, but this one is a little different.
The Helena Public School system in Helena, Montana, announced a plan last week to hire a collection agency to help it recover up to $100,000 in unpaid school lunches. Like many districts across the country, money is tight and people with unpaid debts were either not responding to letters that were being sent home or chose not to care about it.
Like in other districts, there was a lot of backlash over the decision, with individuals saying it was too aggressive to go after individuals in this manner. But rather than just lashing out at the decision, one woman decided to do something about it.
Annie Hanshew has started a GoFundMe page, seeking to raise the $100,000 needed to get everyone out of debt. So far, the drive has raised just over $4,000 in six days.
“Between the overwhelming need of the school district to get this money and also the concern about the impact that debt collections could have on a family, I decided that the community could step up and help,” said Hanshew.
