Debbie Mayberry is a retired teacher, but every
afternoon, you can find her in McMurray Middle School’s cafeteria with a lunch table full of students.

Debbie runs the school’s Kids Cafe, a program that provides students with meals, snacks, and nutrition education throughout the school year and summer months.

After over seven years as the site director, she’s seen how nutritious food and individual attention can have a positive impact on at-risk students.

Fighting Hunger with Compassion

“These children are truly hungry,” Debbie says with visible concern.

Students enrolled in McMurray’s Kids Cafe gather in the cafeteria after school for a healthy snack. As they eat, Debbie walks up and down the long table asking each student if they had a good day and if they’re enjoying the food.

Debbie does more than make sure her students are fed. She makes sure they feel valued.

“I tell them, ‘I’m your mama when you come to school!” she says, and her compassion for her students is impossible to miss.

Many of these children don’t have a stable home life, so Debbie takes it upon herself to show them that she cares and wants them to succeed. She proves that it takes more than just food to raise a healthy child.

If you’d like to support Debbie and her Kids Cafe program, consider making a donation to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. Just $1 can provide 4 meals to children in need.