Do me a favor.  I’d like you to accompany me on a little trip tonight.  I am fortunate to have been given two things today that will make this an incredible learning experience for both of us.  In my left hand, I have a ribbon that when waived in front of us makes us invisible, and silent to everyone, but we can still hear and talk to one another. On my opposite wrist, I am wearing a digital watch that I can set to any date, time, and place.  For fun, let’s set the date and time to February 2020 – just before the pandemic, and pick a random place…just to see where we wind up.  This is going to be a great adventure!

I set the watch and waived the ribbon.  And now we cannot be seen or heard.  I press the button on the watch, and POOF – we are standing in the middle of a staircase in somebody’s home.  The parents, Nathan and Andrea, are just down the stairs in their living room having a heated conversation.  We can’t see them, but we can hear them just fine:

Nathan:             

I didn’t know that the deductible on our health insurance was so high, and I couldn’t get the MRI unless I paid it upfront. I can’t believe it’s a thousand bucks.  I mean Holy $h!%!

Andrea:             

Well, you don’t get paid until next Friday and I need to sign Adam up for indoor soccer!

Nathan:             

I can’t believe that it could cost that much – You’ve got to be kidding me!  I filled the tank today and it was another 50 bucks!

Andrea:             

He was selected for the team. It is all the elite players his age!  Do you want to tell him that he can’t play with his friends?  If so, be my guest. 

Nathan:             

It’s not that Andie!  It’s just that since we moved here things are piling up and nothing is getting cheaper!  Can you sign him up later next week?

Andrea:             

I will try.  But if doesn’t get on the team with his friends he is going to be heartbroken!

Nathan:             

The cards are maxed.  We have enough money for groceries, and I still have to pay the car insurance.  That’s due too.  And in two more weeks, the mortgage!

Andrea:             

Well, no more going out to dinner, and the gym membership is way too high.

Nathan:             

Tomorrow night, and this weekend, I will drive for Uber again.  I will have enough money for the down payment on soccer by the end of the weekend.  E-mail the coach and let him know. 

Andrea:             

So, now you’ll be gone all weekend and I am a single parent again! Great.

Not quite where we wanted to wind up, is it?  It gets worse.  We heard a noise behind us, and it was a little boy, 11 years old.  He is sitting on the top of the staircase listening to his parents bicker about money.  He stands up and sneaks back to his bedroom, gets into bed, and pulls the covers over his head.  I look at you and say, let’s get outta here.  I messed with the watch but forget to change the place, and now it is the next morning.  Adam, having finished his breakfast, ran back up the stairs to get his book bag.  On his way out Andrea yells to him, “Adam, take the money on the counter for lunch!”  Two single dollar bills sat nest to the sink for Adam to take. 

Adam takes the bills and stuffs them in the pocket of his hoodie.  We decided to follow him.  While he is standing waiting for his bus, we notice that his hand is still in that pocket.  He keeps it there as he boards the bus.  When he gets to school, his hand is still stuffed into the sweatshirt. Then when he gets to his cubby, he pulls his hand out, and in it is the two dollars.  He puts his hoodie in the cubby and transfers the bills to the right pocket of his pants.  Before doing so, he looked at the bills to make sure that they were still there.  Then over the next 3 hours, before lunch, we saw him put his hand in his pocket again and again – as if he was checking to make certain the money hadn’t gone anywhere.

Finally, it was lunchtime, and Adam entered the cafeteria, where he then sat aside his friends.  His friends were eating, but he was not.  As a matter of fact, there wasn’t any food in front of him at all.  A teacher passes by and asks him where his lunch is.  Adam responds, “I am not hungry.  I ate too much breakfast.”  The teacher pressed him a little, saying, “How about just a little snack?”  “If you forgot your lunch, I can get you something,” the teacher went on.  Adam pulled the money from his pocket and said, “I have money.  Just not hungry.”  The teacher moved on. 

From the time that Adam went to bed to the time that he sat at lunch, he could think only of the conversation that his parents had the night before.  In his young mind, the cost of soccer was causing his parents to argue, with increasing frequency about money.  He didn’t want to spend the two dollars, just in case.  He was hungry though, and it was really messing up his day.  It was tough for him to read or concentrate.  He kept going to get water, so much so that he had to go to the bathroom many more times than usual.  His teacher even asked him if everything was all right and if he wanted to go see the nurse. 

We were both yelling at the teacher…”Hey, Adam Needs to Eat!…Get him Some Food!”  But that damn ribbon made us not only invisible but unable to be heard as well.  At the end of the day, Adam boarded his bus – with his hand stuffed into the pocket of that hoodie, once again. 

What you just read is an amalgam of a few real-life stories.  Never, ever will this happen again in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts because our kids and families aren’t paying for breakfast or lunch in public schools anymore. 

I am proud of Project Bread, Governor Healey, our Senators, and State Representatives for this.  Find your Senator or Representative online and send a thank you.  A seemingly immovable barrier that our kids and families have faced for far too long is gone forever. 

Food is now guaranteed to 913,000 + kids in Massachusetts Schools every day!