LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – Earlier this year, we first introduced you to Adam Dahl, the Lexington business owner raising money to cover student lunch debt for Fayette County.
He was donating money raised through TikTok views.
That’s when he told us students had $35,000 worth of student lunch debt across the district.
Now, he’s taking his fundraising efforts even further, with others running at the opportunity to help.
“Its been a massive success. We sold out with a month to go before the race started with 340 in person runners, 450 total if you include virtual runners,” said Adam Dahl, the owner of Dahlhus Fudge.
“I have school-aged kids and the thought of other families in my kids school not being able to take care of their lunches every day, is just something I think everyone can agree is wiping that out for the FCPS families, so a few months ago, that’s just what I put my money toward and we’ve had a lot of fun every since,” Dahl said.
Now, folks are putting their running shoes to good use for the first Feed the Kids 3k Saturday.
“For the ’24/’25 end of the school year, we paid off $13,000 in just two-and-half months of raising money. We’ve kept things going over the summer. After the race is over, I expect us to have at least 16, 17,000 dollars in the non-profit the rest of the school year,” he said.
Dahl said that’s nearing the halfway point of covering the district’s lunch debt, but he isn’t stopping there.
“Lexingtonians often step up when we know that other people in the communities need help and we’re the first ones to offer a hand and this is my way of doing it and I know its attainable. We can pay off this whole goal if we want to,” he said.
FCPS teacher Sarah Fightmaster Bayerle said she sees the need firsthand in her school and she knows help like this is making a difference.
“We ask our students to come to school ready to learn and so we should be able to provide them with proper nutrition, and it shouldn’t be a hardship for their families. Its just really powerful to be here with all of these people who believe in the same thing, who believe in our kids, who believe in our public schools and make sure they are the best things they can be,” Fightmaster Bayerle said.
Dahl said he plans to make this an even bigger event next year.
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