Staff at OLSH recently shared the news of a special gift for OLSH families who qualify for free or reduced lunches based upon federal guidelines.  OLSH VP for Advancement, Cheryl Karashin, recently met with a generous benefactor who wanted to partner on the school’s initiative to “meet families where they are financially.”    

“The donor came to discuss his first ever leadership-level gift to the school in the amount of $30,000 towards scholarship, and then inquired if there was another way he could help these students from low income families.  I explained how across the country mounting student lunch debt is an issue, and one that we see at OLSH, as well,” Cheryl explained. “And he quickly chimed in that he wanted to help!”

To provide some holiday cheer to OLSH students in this situation, the donor made a gift of $3,000 towards lunch accounts.  Inspired by this lead donation, members of our OLSH faculty and staff contributed to this initiative as well, and as a result, we were able to credit $50-$125 to 50 OLSH students’ lunch accounts.  The donations exceeded expectations, reaching in excess of $4,400, which allowed us to extend the gift to other students identified as having significant need.

 “We know that the choice to send a child to OLSH already involves a financial sacrifice for these families, so it was a great blessing to team up in order to provide some lunches for those in need,” Cheryl said.