A dime here, 75 cents there. It adds up.
Thousands of students in Glynn County Schools are benefiting from these micro-donations made through a new partnership between Stripling’s General Store and the local nonprofit Eat’n Together.
Money raised by rounding-up the cost of purchases at the store is put into a fund that provides lunch to students who would otherwise receive what’s called “alternative lunch,” given to students who do not have adequate funds in their meal account at school.
Eat’N’Together, which began a fundraiser in November 2022 to end alternative lunch, donates the money to the school district to ensure students who would receive an alternative meal — often just a plain sandwich — will receive the full meal option on the menu that day.
Stripling’s reached out at the start of the year with an offer to partner and support the initiative, said Alec Eaton, co-founder of Eat’nTogether.
“They had an amazing opportunity to authorize a round-up event that’s ongoing,” he said.
Cashiers at Stripling’s, located at 2304 Glynn Ave. in Brunswick, ask each customer if he or she would like to round up the price of their purchase. Eat’NTogether comes by once a week to pick up the donations, which amounted close to $400 from last week’s sales.
“That goes directly into our school fund,” Eaton said.
He works closely with the school system to ensure the money goes toward student lunch costs.
Sherrie Medlin, the store’s general manager, said the cashiers at Stripling’s have been enthusiastic supporters of the opportunity, and they’ve created an in-store competition to man the cash register that raises the most.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the store had collected more than $1,300 in round-up donations.
Medlin said the campaign gives Stripling’s the opportunity to support a good cause while bringing in more customers to learn about the store.
“We want to have a lot of community involvement,” she said.
Eaton said he’s seen significant community support.
“I know a lot of people in the community (who) have been coming here more frequently to help support this,” he said.
Eaton began the initiative to end alternative lunches by raising money for just one school. It has since expanded to all 18 public schools in Glynn County, he said.
Nearly $18,000 has been raised in total so far through individual donations, partners like Stripling’s and grant funds. The Eat’NTogether donations support around 5,000 students, Eaton said.
It costs $150 to $200 every day to ensure no students eat an alternative lunch in the district, he said.
The goal for next year is to raise $62,000 to support every student who needs help for the entire academic year.
“We have a long way to go to ensure that there’s that safety net and security account to keep that going in all the schools,” Eaton said.
Medlin encouraged other local businesses to support the effort to maximize its impact.
“You may not think 10 cents adds up, but it does,” she said.
