Retired Firefighter Turns Hand-Carved Swords Into Help for Students' Lunch Debt

A retired firefighter in a suburb of St. Louis has found a new purpose in woodworking: carving swords by hand and directing the donations he receives toward overdue student lunch balances at local schools.

Chris Monroe first made swords for his grandchildren. Neighborhood kids soon heard about them, and he began making more. Three years on, he has produced more than 100 of them.

Children and families keep in touch with him about the swords. "I get texts and emails from kids, you know, about swords and about where they take it and what they did with it," Monroe said. "It's gratifying, you know ... that I found a purpose."

The arrangement is simple. Monroe accepts a donation for each sword he makes. When the school year ends, he delivers the money to a local school district, which applies it to student lunch debt. Every contribution is made in the name of the child who supported his work.

Monroe sees a lesson in that. "They're learning a value here, that there are people out there that need help, and they're stepping up to help," he said.

He said he had not understood how widespread lunch debt was until he talked with his son-in-law, Andrew Crawford, a teacher. According to Crawford, the problem is most visible among families just above the cutoff for assistance. "It's often those kids that live on the bubble or on the cusp, just above the poverty line, or just above that threshold where we see the most school lunch," Crawford said.

Eligibility for free and reduced-price lunches depends on income criteria. In Missouri, 20% of students are directly certified because their households take part in federal assistance programs such as SNAP. Another 48% qualify based on household income. Some districts serve free lunch to every student when at least 25% of their students are directly certified.

Monroe hopes to raise more money by expanding what he makes, including a deer antler knife. His friend Stephanie Auping plans to sell his creations at her store, The Emporium, in Washington, Missouri. "This is happening to your neighbors too, is happening all over," Auping said. "And so yeah, if I can be part of the solution, I'm happy to."

Monroe described the project as an investment in education rather than a response to hunger. He said he keeps carving even on days when his contribution seems small.