A progressive political advocacy organization that has staged anti-Trump rallies in East Cobb said it has made a financial donation to help pay for student lunches at Brumby Elementary School.
The group Indivisible Cobb said Wednesday that its $800 donation is part of an effort to “wipe out school lunch debt” that has built up among students early in the 2025-26 school year.
“With the cutbacks on food assistance programs under the Trump administration, the number of children who can no longer access free/reduced rates lunches has grown,” Indivisible Cobb said in a release, although it didn’t specify how many of those students are at Brumby.
The group said it has begun a fundraising drive “to guarantee that all Cobb County students receive a nutritional meal regardless of their circumstances. Without exception and without shame.”
The Indivisible Cobb release didn’t indicate which food program reductions its donation was addressing. The donation partially reduces a $2,000 balance at Brumby, and was collected at Indivisible Cobb events and via via cash apps from its member base of more than 2,1o0.
The release said the group “plans to continue collecting money to help pay off school lunch debts and aims to donate to other Cobb County schools as well. This effort is in conjunction with Indivisible Cobb’s ongoing program of food collections and coordinated with the East Cobb YMCA Hunger Relief Program.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) program came to an end on Tuesday as part of the Trump Administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” reductions.
Earlier this spring, a federal program was cut that brought food from local farmers to school cafeterias.
The release quoted Indivisible Cobb leadership team member Stacey Parlotto, who said that “Cobb County schools pride themselves on delivering above state average test scores and graduation rates.
“How can you expect students to focus with empty stomachs and bearing the shame of an empty luncheon tray?”
East Cobb News has left a message with Indivisible Cobb seeking more information about its fundraising efforts.
The group cited Georgia Department of Education figures that 42 percent of the more than 105,000 students in the Cobb County School District qualify for some form of free or reduced lunches.
Brumby is among the schools in the Cobb school district with a food pantry set up by MUST Ministries that provides food for students to take home.
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I have volunteered for ten years at Brumby with the Power Lunch program through Everybody Wins Atlanta. I read to a student once a week on his/her lunchtime while he/she eats. I applaud this group’s effort, but I have seen the monumental waste of “lunches”, choices NOT to eat what is offered, and offerings which are less than nutritious. In effect, the school lunch program pays for a lot of food being thrown away.
I have no solution, but I think looking at the issue is a logical step. I think an inside view should be presented to Indivisible Cobb’s portrayal.