Washington father looking to raise $600K to pay school lunch debts across state

SEATTLE -- A Washington father who raised nearly $100,000 to cover lunch debt at five Washington school districts is expanding his effort with a new campaign to pay off lunch debt at more school districts across the state.

Our news partner The Seattle Times reports Jeff Lew of Beacon Hill is looking to raise at least $600,000 after his initial efforts were successful with $21,000 raised through donations on GoFundMe, and an additional $17,000 through pledges from singer John Legend and TopGolf CEO Erik Anderson. The new campaign launched Friday.

Lew says he and his team have called various school districts throughout the summer to calculate an estimate of school lunch meal debt at Washington schools. Lew says he wants to prevent students from feeling singled out or being bullied for not having lunch money.