A group of local business owners donated $17,732.62 to the Pickens County School District’s Angel Fund to pay off outstanding student meal charges, district staff announced at the board’s Dec. 11 meeting.

Beth, a member of the district’s school nutrition staff, said the funds — delivered through the Angel Fund at the request of donor Tim Stansell — are sufficient to clear every family’s unpaid meal charges so students will return in January with a “clean slate.” "This was enough money to help us to basically clear off all the charges of all the families in need," Beth said, reading a summary of the donation and thanking the donors for their support.

The donation was presented to the district after Stansell and other local business leaders contacted school nutrition staff about the problem of rising lunch debt. A letter read at the meeting said the group "strongly believe[s] that no child should have to worry about whether they will be able to eat a meal during the school day" and asked that the gift be processed through the existing Angel Fund.

Board members and administrators thanked Stansell and the donors during the meeting. The district said it will process the contributions through the Angel Fund so the money is applied to outstanding meal balances and that staff will share donor names with the assistant superintendent for recordkeeping.

No formal board action was required to accept the donated funds; the announcement was made as part of the operations and nutrition update. The Angel Fund is the district’s established channel for community donations intended to reduce or eliminate student meal debt.