Utah foundation works to help pay off school lunch debt [Video]

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — What began as a goal to eliminate Utah’s school lunch debt has evolved into a foundation, bolstered by support from the state’s tech community.

When Hunter High Basketball Coach DJ Bracken discovered the state’s staggering $2.8 million in school lunch debt, he was determined to make a difference. He requested a list of schools from the district and got to work.

“[I] went down the spreadsheet they sent me. Picked the first school off the list, which was Bluffdale Elementary … I paid $835 of my own money to pay off the lunch debt for that school,” he said. “Then I thought, ‘If I care about this, maybe other people care about this.”

Bracken said he knew Silicon Slopes CEO Clint Betts had similar interests, so he sent him a message.

“[I asked] ‘Is this something you’d be interested in helping with?’ and he reached …