Our progress

Paid in full.

In June 2024 DJ Bracken read that Utah students owed millions in school lunch debt. He paid off the first school, Bluffdale Elementary, himself: $835, by check, on his lunch break.

Every payoff since, one receipt

Give now Find your school

Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation

utldr.org · #feedutahkids

Receipt for
Utah school lunch debt
Opened
June 2024
Printed
Oct. 14, 2026
Cashier
DJ Bracken, founder

Debt paid off

2024

  1. June 2024Bluffdale Elementary$835Jordan School Districtpaid with DJ's own check
  2. NewsJuly 9, 2024The first gifts DJ posts about it. Donors give $5,000 the first day.
  3. July 23, 2024Oakcrest Elementary$770Jordan School DistrictFirst payoff from the foundation. Oakcrest Elementary, $770.
  4. Aug. 8, 2024South Kearns Elementary$4280Granite School District
  5. Aug. 13, 2024Liberty Elementary$560Murray School District
  6. Aug. 23, 2024Parkside Elementary$1000Davis School District
  7. LawAug. 2024Talking with lawmakers DJ joins Rep. Tyler Clancy and Sen. Kathleen Riebe on a public talk about lunch debt.
  8. Sept. 4, 2024Creekview Elementary$700Carbon School District
  9. Sept. 24, 2024Provo Peaks Elementary$700Provo City School District
  10. Sept. 24, 2024Dixon Middle School$1000Provo City School District
  11. Dec. 6, 2024Aspen Elementary$2100Jordan School District

Subtotal, 9 payoffs$11945

Running total$11945

2025

  1. Jan. 6, 2025Quail Hollow Elementary$4321.98Canyons School District10 schools. Quail Hollow Elementary is the 10th school paid off.
  2. Jan. 15, 2025Sandy Elementary$2100Canyons School District
  3. March 21, 2025Butler Elementary$6050.37Canyons School District
  4. LawMarch 2025HB 100 passes Students on reduced-price meals get free lunch, and lunch shaming ends.
  5. April 2025Duchesne Elementary$4500Duchesne County School District
  6. May 17, 2025Magna Elementary$11035Granite School District
  7. June 6, 2025Lone Peak Elementary$5155.02Canyons School District
  8. June 6, 2025Oak Leaf Elementary$3262.9Jordan School District
  9. June 12, 2025Silver Crest Elementary$3962Jordan School District
  10. LawJuly 1, 2025HB 100 takes effect About 40,000 students eat lunch free.
  11. July 2025All schools in the city of Lehi (17 schools)$52000Alpine School DistrictLargest payoffEvery school in Lehi. $52,000 clears all 17 schools in Lehi. The total passes 25 schools and $100,000 paid.
  12. NewsOct. 2025The Courage Project award $25,000 for the foundation. CBS News tells the story nationally.
  13. Dec. 3, 2025Granger Elementary$12000Granite School District
  14. Dec. 3, 2025Lincoln Elementary$12000Davis School District
  15. Dec. 3, 2025Forbes Elementary$7250Alpine School DistrictThree schools in one day. Granger and Lincoln Elementary, $12,000 each, and Forbes Elementary, $7,250.
  16. Dec. 10, 2025Washington County School District$7500

Subtotal, 13 payoffs$131137.27

Running total$143082.27

2026

  1. Jan. 21, 2026West Bountiful Elementary$3000Davis School District
  2. Jan. 21, 2026Bountiful Elementary$3000Davis School District
  3. Jan. 27, 2026South Jordan Elementary$4500Jordan School District
  4. Feb. 2, 2026Philo T. Farnsworth Elementary$7000Granite School District
  5. Feb. 9, 2026Hillcrest Junior High$4500Murray School District
  6. LawApril 202650 schools The 50th school, and $200,000 paid to Utah schools.
  7. March 19, 2026Kaysville Junior High$5200Davis School District
  8. March 19, 2026Columbia Elementary$5200Davis School District
  9. April 13, 2026Mount Mahogany Elementary$7500Alpine School District
  10. April 16, 2026David Gourley Elementary$9500Granite School District
  11. April 16, 2026Eastwood Elementary$1400Granite School District
  12. April 22, 2026Lava Ridge Intermediate$3120.25Washington County School District
  13. April 22, 2026Viewmont High School$1000Davis School District
  14. April 30, 2026Arcadia Elementary$250Granite School District
  15. April 30, 2026Crestview Elementary$2000Granite School DistrictHB 148 takes effect. A School Meals Debt Relief Fund on every Utah tax return. The state now collects lunch debt from every district.
  16. May 8, 2026Silver Crest Elementary$6000Jordan School District
  17. May 8, 2026Riverside Elementary$1807.44Jordan School District
  18. May 14, 2026Nibley Park School$2200Salt Lake City School District
  19. May 21, 2026Entheos Academy (Kearns campus)$2100Entheos Academy (charter)
  20. May 21, 2026Cache County School District (districtwide)$7000
  21. May 26, 2026Mount Mahogany Elementary$1100Alpine School District
  22. June 1, 2026Alpine Elementary$2200Alpine School District
  23. June 1, 2026Sage Hills Elementary$2200Alpine School District
  24. June 1, 2026Ridge View Elementary$1000Jordan School District
  25. June 1, 2026Granite Elementary$1800Canyons School District
  26. June 2026Canyon View Elementary$1142Weber School District
  27. NewsJune 2026A chapter in Rhode Island Nayatt School in Barrington is paid off, $6,200.
  28. July 10, 2026Ascent Academies of Utah (5 campuses)$2300Ascent Academies of Utah (charter)
  29. Sign-upsAug. 2026Logan signs up All 8 Logan schools offer families our deal for filling in the meal application.
  30. Aug. 24, 2026Traverse Mountain Elementary$200Alpine School District
  31. Aug. 27, 2026Fox Hills Elementary$4458.25Granite School District
  32. Aug. 27, 2026Hillsdale Elementary$469.9Granite School District
  33. Aug. 27, 2026Plymouth Elementary$442.89Granite School District
  34. Aug. 27, 2026Hartvigsen Elementary$5121.23Granite School District
  35. Sept. 11, 2026Grovecrest Elementary$1076Alpine School District
  36. Sept. 14, 2026Pioneer Elementary$7400Granite School District$250,000 paid. Pioneer Elementary takes the total past $250,000.
  37. Oct. 2, 2026Whittier Elementary$1500Salt Lake City School District
  38. Oct. 2, 2026Open Classroom$800Salt Lake City School District
  39. Oct. 5, 2026Logan City School District (8 schools)$592.55
  40. Sign-upsOct. 2026Granite and Logan We clear Logan's free and reduced-price balances and start on Granite's 40 schools.
  41. LawOct. 6, 2026The Feed Utah Kids plate Utah's new license plate sends $30 a year to lunch debt.

Subtotal, 36 payoffs$110080.51

Running total$253162.78

Total paid$253162.78

Payoffs
58
Schools reached
80+
Districts
16
Paid with
Your gifts
Online donors
1,140

Balance due$0.00

Every school here: paid in full.

Thank you for feeding Utah kids.

One bar for each payoff. Wider bars, bigger checks.

Source: UTLDR payout records and check photos, June 2024 to Oct. 14, 2026. The totals count Utah schools. A date with a month only is the month on record.

31 news stories so far, from CBS News, The Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, KSL News and more.

2Families signed up

Keeping it paid.

Debt paid for a family on free meals stays paid. So we help families fill in the free and reduced-price meal application, and we make it worth their time.

Logan City School District Aug. 19 to Oct. 16, 2026
All 8 schools ran the offer this fall, and the district emailed every family. 115 more students now qualify for free school meals. We paid $2,419.45 in lunch debt for families who qualified and $1,980 in $10 credits for families who applied but didn't: $4,399.45. Before that we paid every past-due balance of students on free or reduced-price meals: $592.55.
Granite School District from Oct. 2026
Granite gave us the balances of families on free and reduced-price meals at 40 elementary schools: $52,223. We pay it down in steps, and the $10 offer goes to every family.
West Valley City 2026
The city finds families who qualify and sends them to us. We pay their balance and help them apply.

The meal application offer

Fill in the free and reduced-price meal application at school.

You qualifyWe pay your whole lunch balance.
You earn a little too much$10 credit for each child, one time.
  • 5,000+families got the offer
  • 48schools offering families the deal
  • 750meal applications filed
  • 115Logan students newly qualified for free school meals this fall

Offer good for families at participating schools. One credit for each child.

3Laws changed

New rules for every Utah school.

Two state laws and a license plate now keep lunch debt down across Utah.

HB 1002025

Food Security Amendments

Free lunch for students on reduced-price meals.

Students who qualify for reduced-price meals now eat lunch free. The law also bans lunch shaming: schools keep a student's meal debt between the school and the parents.

40,000students now eat lunch free, as reported by KSL and the Deseret News

In effect
July 1, 2025
Sponsors
Rep. Tyler Clancy and Sen. Kirk Cullimore
Our part
We worked with advocates and lawmakers to pass it.

HB 1482026

Tax Return Donation Amendments

A state fund for school lunch debt, on every tax return.

Utahns can give to a School Meals Debt Relief Fund on their state tax return. The state now collects every district's lunch debt each June 30 and pays it down.

In effect
May 6, 2026
Sponsors
Rep. Matt MacPherson and Sen. Luz Escamilla
Our part
The state now gathers the school-by-school numbers we started collecting.

Feed Utah Kids license plate

The Feed Utah Kids license plate

Every Feed Utah Kids plate sends $30 a year to school lunch debt, every time the driver renews.

On sale
Oct. 6, 2026
Each year
$30 to lunch debt
Asked first
596 people asked for one before launch
“Set it up once, forget it, and it helps every year.”DJ Bracken, Founder
Get the plate

What’s next

Start the next receipt.

We gather each school's lunch debt from Utah districts and publish it in one place, school by school. The governor's office called DJ to check the numbers.

Your gift pays off the next school on the list.

Give now Look up your school

Next receipt

School lunch debt still on the books

Listed debt
$3,485,763
Schools
695
Districts
23
Latest report
March 20, 2026

Your gift$

X

Thank you. See you at the next school.

Look up your school

Find your school’s lunch debt.

Utah districts report each school’s lunch debt. We gather those reports in one place: 695 schools in 23 districts. Search yours, then help pay it off.

$3,485,763listed lunch debt
695schools listed
23districts reporting
March 2026latest district report

695 schools

Most debt:
Listed school lunch debt by school
SchoolDistrictLevelUpdatedDebtGive

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Debt as each district last reported it to us; dates vary by district. A school’s balance changes during the year as families pay and as we pay schools off. To give to one school, use the button by its name and write the school in the comment box.