There has been no justice in the daylight murder of Philando Castile, who was known as Mr. Phil by the children at the school where he worked. As communities directly affected by his death rallied to bring something resembling positivity to such a horror-filled event, scholarships and a lunch-funding program were launched in the late Castile’s honor. As the Star Tribune explains, the “Philando Feeds the Children” campaign, begun by Metropolitan State University psychology Prof. Pamela Fergus, has already raised more than $70,000 toward helping pay off schoolchildren’s lunch debts in Minnesota.
The school lunch project has raised $72,000 — $10,000 of which went to J.J. Hill Montessori to eliminate the students’ entire lunch debt. The rest of the donations will significantly reduce other student lunch debts across the St. Paul district.
The donation took place in the lunchroom where students got to know Castile, who had a passion for making sure the students had healthy meals. Valerie Castile told the kids he never missed a day of work.
“You met him and realized that he was such a nice person,” she said. “This project means the world to me.”
Castile was willing to make sacrifices in order to ensure that children did not go hungry, as Stacy Koppen, Nutritional Services Director for St. Paul Public Schools, told Minnesota’s local CBS affiliate back in August.
“When a student couldn’t pay for their lunch, a lot of times (Castile) actually paid for their lunch out of his own pocket,” she said.
Philando Castile’s mother, Valerie, was hugged by students throughout the presentation of the check.