Cory Elementary School third-grader Travis Gamblin will present a $550 check to the Department of Food and Nutrition Services at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 18 in the school’s cafeteria to provide free meals for students whose families qualify only for reduced-price meals.

“I sent out a letter to everybody and now I have $550 to help people,” said Gamblin. “That's 1,375 lunches.”
 
Compelled by recent media coverage of a student who raised money to help Englewood and Sheridan children cover the entire cost of their reduced-price lunch, Gamblin wanted to do the same for Denver Public Schools.

DPS will use the money to pay entirely for $.40 reduced-price lunches and $.30 reduced-price breakfasts for students at three schools - Cory and Ellis elementary schools and Merrill Middle School. Merrill shares its campus with Cory; Ellis is also nearby.

In August, the Denver Board of Education approved a resolution urging the US Congress to eliminate the reduced-price school meals program and provide instead free meals for all children with family incomes below 185 percent of poverty.

Cory Elementary School is located at 1550 S. Steele St. For more information, contact the school at 303-744-2726.