Заключенные тюрьмы в Канзасе погасили долг школьного питания на $4,2 тыс.

‘Reaching Out From Within’: NW Kansas prison inmates help to pay down school lunch debt NORTON, Kan. (KWCH) - A northwest school district’s unsettled lunch debt was substantially paid down, thanks to an effort from a group of inmates at the Norton Correctional Facility. The story was first shared on The Norton Telegram. Lisa Pasilas originally covered the special presentation for High Plains News. At the end of the 2025-2026 school year, Norton Community Schools, USD 211, had an unsettled debt of about $6,000, accrued from breakfast and lunch meals served each school day to students whose families faced food insecurity and couldn’t pay off their child’s account. The community need presented an opportunity for inmates who are part of an organization in which they’re looking to “make lasting changes in their behavior and become role models for nonviolence.” At Norton Correctional Facility, members of that organization, Reaching Out From Within (ROFW), “sprang into action this past spring to organize a fundraiser and help ensure children enrolled at USD 211 may be provided with reliable access to nutritious school meals,” Pasilas explained. In a ceremony held at the prison early last month, Pasilas said that nearly 30 incarcerated men gathered to present Norton Community Schools Superintendent Corey Roy with a $4,267 donation “to be paid forward and utilized to help local children fuel their day and stay focused and energized this school year.” Through an organized fundraiser, members of Reaching Out From Within collected $3,810. “To bring the total to over $4,000, [Kansas Department of Corrections] staff members also pitched in an additional $457 to support the community outreach efforts, bringing the total raised to $4,267,” Pasilas explained. During the Aug. 3 ceremony in which inmates presented the donation to Roy, the school superintendent thanked the men for their support and had a chance to learn about them. Roy said he was “moved at how the men [he] spoke with wanted to make a positive impact to help others in the community.” “I was very appreciative to have the chance to talk to them as a group, but also individually to hear how this made them feel to help someone else. I wanted them to know that they made a difference in a positive way,” Roy said, quoted in the story shared by Norton Correctional Facility. “In listening to them, I believe this gave them a chance to reflect and know that moving forward they can make choices that are positive for themselves and others in the community. I felt very good about the opportunity to meet with the residents and try to reinforce what the prison staff are doing to help them be directed in the right direction as they move forward in their lives.” Copyright 2026 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email [email protected]