At 14, DeJuan Strickland is already a published author. He created the educational comic books “Tech Boy” and “Science Girl” to inspire an interest in STEM-related fields. However, there was a time when food insecurity made it difficult to focus on his goals. While attending McCurdy Elementary in Missouri, DeJuan couldn’t always afford to eat lunch. Now, the young man is on a mission to make sure that other kids don’t have the same problem.
DeJuan started by raising money through GoFundMe to pay off student lunch debts at his former school. Earlier this year, he was able to present McCurdy Elementary with a check for $400. This donation has already made a difference for students who wouldn’t otherwise have been able to eat during the school day.
“They told me stories about how kids, there was a kid who didn’t have enough money to pay for school lunch or pay for the pizza, and they were able to pull it from the fund and they’re able to have pizza at school that day,” DeJuan said, according to Good Morning America. “It was amazing, and I’m really happy.”
The teenage boy isn’t stopping there. He’s also been collecting money for the entire Hazelwood district, which contains over 20 schools. His campaign, Team Tech Boy Lunch Heroes Initiative, has already raised thousands. However, DeJuan was shocked to learn that some districts have negative meal balances of over $50,000.
“This is a huge problem,” the high-schooler said. “The fact that kids aren’t going to be able to eat, that’s a problem.”
He continued, “It’s crazy, because a lot of other schools in like different countries or anything, they don’t have a problem with negative lunch balances, cause it’s free. So it’s like, you know, why are they like that? Why is it free over there and not over here?”
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