Organization pays $4,700 in student lunch debt for Bigfork Schools

Gap Fillers Flathead, an organization that raises funds to supply schools with feminine hygiene products and pay off school lunch debt, recently covered $4,730 in unpaid student lunches for Bigfork Schools. This cost would otherwise be left to the school to cover, noted founder Tammi Fisher.

Students can acquire lunch debt if their parents cannot afford to pay school lunch fees. In Bigfork, these costs range from 40 cents for a reduced lunch to $2.75 for a meal for an upper level student. There are also some families who may qualify for the federal free lunch program, but don’t enroll because of the stigma surrounding the issue, Fisher explained.

“They don't want to fill out the applications because they don't want to be identified,” she said.

Superintendent Matt Jensen said that Bigfork Schools works with parents regarding payments, not the students, but that wasn’t always the case for some other local institutions. Fisher was shocked when she learned that students in other area schools were being asked in the lunchline to remind their parents to pay for their meals or given alternative food when their family was behind on payments.

“We want to end kids being debt collectors for their parents,” she said.

So Fisher and a group of friends founded Gap Fillers Flathead. They’ve since contributed thousands of dollars to local schools with this summer’s contribution being the first for Bigfork.

“It’s really just a group of five chicks that want to give money to kids,” she said. “It’s the most rewarding thing I've ever been involved in.”

In addition to paying off school lunch debt, Gap Fillers Flathead is also working to end what Fisher calls “period poverty” — where some young girls go without proper feminine hygiene supplies due to a lack of resources. Free pads and tampons are often available at the front desk, but Fisher said it can be embarrassing for a young woman to make that request and some can’t afford to purchase supplies from restroom dispensers, if they’re even available. To meet that need, Gap Fillers has installed numerous free feminie hygiene dispensers in restrooms of local schools for grades five and higher.