Social media campaign helps kids pay lunch debts

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Ashley Ford, a New York City based writer, has written a lot of articles but one topic inspired her and now hundreds of others: children who go without lunch.

Nationwide students with unpaid lunch accounts are often given a substitute meal of a cold sandwich and a carton of milk. In many instances, the child receives no lunch at all.

In an effort to change that sad fact, Ford appealed to her almost 70,000 Twitter followers. She sent a single tweet in December asking her followers to contact their local schools and pay off overdue lunch accounts. The tweet became a catalyst for change across the country.

In New York City, programs are in place where no student has to go hungry. But Ford says many other school districts, even nearby ones, aren't as fortunate and that needs to change.