Snow and Glow event wipes out Enumclaw student meal debt

Last week, Enumclaw students owed a total of $17,000 in school meal debt.

This week, the ledger has been cleared, thanks to Seattle Ballooning, Thomasson Family Farm, and the generosity of many other businesses, organizations, and Plateau residents.

The avalanche of support started with a Jan. 28 Facebook post in the Enumclaw Community Forum group, letting people know that students with negative meal money accounts were provided an alternate meal of a cheese sandwich.

“I know to keep my kid energized and focused for his school day, this would be very insufficient,” the now-deleted post read. “If you have the means to get caught up, now would be a good time. Better yet, if you have the means to help someone else, that would be amazing.”

ESD Director of Communications Jessica McCartney noted the post was inaccurate; before November, “students with significantly past due balances… were provided a cheese sandwich, unlimited salad bar, and milk. However, since the board model policy and procedure were updated in November, students do not receive an alternative meal.”

Still, the post garnered a lot of interest, including the attention of Eliav Cohen, owner of Seattle Ballooning.

This issue struck home with Cohen, as he grew up on free meal programs and now has two young kids in public school, so he hit the ground running trying to figure out what he could do.

As soon as he saw that Friday, Feb. 7, would be a calm, dry day, Cohen immediately contacted Thomasson Family Farm to see if they would be interested in hosting the Snow and Glow fundraiser.

Tia Hellmen, who helps run the farm, was all in — but they only had days to organize the event.

“It was a bit stressful, but we pulled it off,” she laughed.

The next few days were a whirlwind of calls and texts to pilots, food trucks, advertisers, and a DJ. Cohen also had to quickly build an event webpage to sell tickets and a donation page.

In 36 hours after tickets sales started, more than $7,500 was already raised in sales and donations.

“… It just exploded,” Cohen said, noting that the very first donation was $500.

Three days after the event was created, Hellmen said, tickets were gone.

“We kept bumping up the number just a little bit to try to get as many people in as we could,” she continued.

And by the end of the night, which featured six 100-foot balloons, a live DJ, and numerous food trucks that donated some of their proceeds to the overall total, more than $2,500 was collected. According to Cohen, this amount of support — especially within such a small amount of time — is unheard of.

“Everyone who showed up got to see the community really come together. And I think that’s an important thing at times like these, when you do have a lot of separation and a lot of different things going on politically,” Cohen said. “We have to come together for the kids, and I think that was just incredible.”

According to Cohen, the leftover funds will be used to continue to pay down meal debt for the rest of the year, as well as pay down debt in neighboring districts as well.

The event was sponsored by Seattle Ballooning, Thomasson Family Farm, Industry Graphics, Two Sisters Scoop Per Waste Removal, DJ Lucky Strike, Grocery Outlet, Custom Trucks NW, Ten Trails, and balloon pilots McKenna Secrist, Andrew Johnson, Joey Hernandez, Dave Wiser, Ryan and Jessica Geib, and Eliav Cohen.

Enumclaw School District Superintendent Dr. Shaun Carey also attended the event.

“I am deeply grateful for the incredible generosity shown by our community in supporting families with overdue breakfast and lunch balances. While many school districts face similar challenges, the way our community stepped up to help was truly extraordinary,” he wrote in the ESD Community Newsletter. “A heartfelt thank you to the many individuals who contributed, as well as to the Thomasson Family Farm and Seattle Ballooning, for organizing a fundraising event dedicated to assisting our students. Your kindness and commitment reflect the very best of Enumclaw and demonstrate why our district stands out in its dedication to meeting the diverse needs of those we serve.”

According to the Educational Data Initiative, there were nearly 258,000 students with meal debt in 2023, totaling more than $135 million.

Senate Bill 5352 in the Washington State Legislature aims to expand the state’s free meal program to all students, regardless of family income level. SB 5352 and its House Bill 1404 counterpart, are waiting to be assigned to a committee.