Food truck on Hilton Head trying to ‘take a big bite’ out of local student lunch debt

When a child in the Beaufort County School District goes to the cafeteria for lunch and doesn’t have the funds in their account to pay, it doesn’t mean they don’t get a lunch.

The student’s account goes into negative balance but they go back to class with a full stomach, according to spokesperson for the Beaufort County School District Jim Foster.

This year, Beaufort County students are ending the year with $14,173 in negative meal balances.

One food truck is trying to help relieve that.

The Sodexo “Lowcountry Cruzer” food truck will be parked at Hilton Head’s Shelter Cove Community Park on Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. to serve lunch and dinner, according to a post from Hilton Head Elementary School.

The proceeds from those sales will go toward eliminating negative lunch account balances for students, Foster confirmed. The district’s negative meal balances do not include students who register for the free and reduced lunch program, he said.

Sodexo is the registered food services provider for the Beaufort County School District, according to the district website.

Asked whether the food truck will make up all the negative meal balances in the district, Foster said he was told by a Sodexo employee that they “hope to take a big bite out of it.”

If you go

Also happening on Sunday from noon until 8 p.m. at the Shelter Cove Community Park is the Cerveza Estrella Jalisco Fiesta de Mayo 2019.

The truck will be at the festival and serving the following menu for $6:

• Roasted wings with barbecue sauce
• Spicy macaroni and cheese
• Homemade chocolate chip cookie

This story was originally published May 16, 2019 at 4:03 PM.

Katherine Kokal

The Island Packet

843-560-9158

Katherine Kokal graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and joined The Island Packet newsroom in 2018. Before moving to the Lowcountry, she worked as an interviewer and translator at a nonprofit in Barcelona and at two NPR member stations. At The Island Packet, Katherine covers Hilton Head Island’s government, environment, development, beaches and the all-important Loggerhead Sea Turtle. She has earned South Carolina Press Association Awards for in-depth reporting, government beat reporting, business beat reporting, growth and development reporting, food writing and for her use of social media.