Incarcerated People In Kansas Prison Raise Over $4K To Help Pay For School Meals 

A group of incarcerated people at a Kansas prison helped raise over $4,000 to help struggling families pay for meals at a local school.

WKRC reports that Norton Community Schools ended the 2025-2026 school year with nearly $6,000 in debt stemming from unpaid student meals. Incarcerated people at Norton Correctional Facility heard about this and decided to raise money using their own personal funds. The fundraiser was conducted through Members Reaching Out From Within, a rehabilitation program for incarcerated people looking to make lasting behavioral changes. 

According to KAKE, ROFW operates in all of Kansas’s correctional facilities, as well as several in North Carolina, and a transition center in Kansas City, Missouri. Organizers of the fundraiser said many participants grew up in financially unstable homes and remember what it was like to go hungry as a result. The fundraiser ran throughout spring and summer, with staff members of the Kansas Department of Corrections also participating.

“During the fundraising period, residents came together to make a huge impact by donating $3,810 of their personal funds to the ROFW USD 211 School Lunch Account fundraiser. To bring the total over $4,000, KDOC staff members also pitched in an additional $457 to support the community outreach efforts, bringing the total raised to $4,267!” Lisa Pasilas wrote on ROFW’s official Facebook page. 

A group of 30 incarcerated people presented the donation to USD 211 Superintendent Corey Roy earlier last month. “I was moved at how the men I spoke with wanted to make a positive impact to help others in the community,” Roy said. 

Roy said he had conversations with the incarcerated individually and as a group, which left him moved by their desire to improve their community while incarcerated. “I wanted them to know that they made a difference in a positive way,” Roy said.

“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.”

The money raised will help ensure students at Norton Community Schools who may face food insecurity are fed. The donations couldn’t come at a better time, as just about every state is struggling to keep up with the sweeping changes the Trump administration has made to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

As a result of last year’s “Big, Beautiful Bill, the income threshold has been lowered, work requirements have been increased, and federal funding has been significantly reduced for

SNAP benefits. As a result, millions of people have lost their SNAP benefits, which has undoubtedly increased food insecurity for children in low-income families. 

It’s truly saying something about the state of the U.S. when incarcerated people are willing to do more for the country’s children than the federal government. 

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