Matt Antignolo has worked in public school cafeterias for 24 years. 
 
 He's learned two key truths: Just about every kid loves pizza, and an alarming number of American youngsters still can't afford a $2.35 lunch, despite the dramatic expansion of free and reduced lunch programs. 
 
 When a student doesn't have enough money for lunch, cafeteria staff in many districts, including Antignolo's, take away the child's tray of hot food and hand the student a brown paper bag containing a cold cheese sandwich and a small milk. Some schools take away their lunch entirely. 
 
 "It's the worst part of the job. Nobody likes it," says Antignolo, who's now director of food services at the Lamar Consolidated District outside Houston. 
 
 All the other kids in the lunch line know what's going on. Getting that brown bag is the lunch line equivalent of being branded with a Scarlet Letter. It's been dubbed "school lunch shaming." 
 
 It happens across the country: 76% of America's school districts have kids with school lunch debt, according to the School Nutrition Association. The horror stories keep coming. In 2015, a Colorado cafeteria worker says she was fired for personally paying for a first grader's meal. Last year, a Pennsylvania lunch lady quit in protest after being forced to take food away from a student who was $25 in debt. 
 
 Policies vary, but many schools serve an "alternate meal," like a cheese sandwich, once a student's debt hits $15. 
 
 Related: Almost 20 million kids are getting free lunch 
 
 Last month, New Mexico banned any form of lunch shaming. The dramatic move highlighted this hidden crisis in schools and ignited a national conversation about what to do when students can't pay. The federal Department of Agriculture, which oversees school meals, is requiring that districts at least have a written policy in place by July 1. 
 
 "It's very obvious who the poor kids are in the school," says New Mexico state senator Michael Padilla, who drafted the bill to stop lunch shaming. He told NPR that he mopped the cafeteria floors in order to afford lunch as a kid. 
 
 The USDA is urging districts to stop "embarrassing" and "singling out" students who don't have enough money for lunch. On Monday, US Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico introduced a bill in Congress, the Anti-Lunch Shaming Act, to ban schools from singling children out "by requiring them to wear wristbands or hand stamps or do extra chores" if they have unpaid lunch bills. 
 
 Teacher says, 'I felt I had to do something' 
 
 Chris Robinson hopes Texas passes a similar bill to New Mexico's. Growing up in a mostly black school, Robinson was ridiculed for not having lunch money. There was a separate line for pizza at his school. He could never afford to stand in it. 
 
 Now 33, Robinson is a special education teacher in Houston. In his first year teaching a few years back, he watched a young boy go around the cafeteria collecting food scraps before the lunch period ended. He said it took all his inner strength not to cry. 
 
 Currently, 20 million young people -- about 40% of all US students -- receive free lunches, up significantly from 13 million in 2000. Robinson can see first-hand that kids are still unable to pay for food. 
 
 "I just felt I had to do something. I can't save everyone, but if I could do something about these cheese sandwiches, it would be worth it," says Robinson. He posted a video on GoFundMe, a fundraising website, asking for donations to pay off student lunch debt. He and his wife also pitched in. 
 
 Related: Trump's tall task: Finding jobs for America's 'forgotten people' 
 
 The campaign raised about $700. He took it to the Fort Bend District in Sugar Land, Texas. A few days later, he received a letter in the mail from an elementary school student. It was elaborately decorated with crayon drawings of butterflies and flowers. 
 
 The note read: "Thank you for giving money to go and clear my account. My mom really appreciated [it]. My mom is really thankful. She couldn't believe it." 
 
 There are 30 GoFundMe campaigns to raise money specifically to pay off school lunch debts so students can get hot meals. One is from Amina Ishaq, the PTO president of an elementary school in Antignolo's district. She's raised about $2,100 so far. 
 
 Like Robinson and Padilla, Ishaq grew up in a low-income household. Her parents divorced, and the family often lived paycheck to paycheck. She was one of those kids who was "right above that cutoff line" for free lunch. 
 
 Related: 7 ways to pay for college without a scholarship 
 
 The kids have become pawns 
 
 Schools resort to cheese-sandwich shaming to get lunch debts paid off because they have to fork over the money at the end of the year to cover whatever debt parents don't pay. 
 
 The amounts add up quickly. When Antignolo arrived at the Lamar district in 2013, there was over $180,000 in unpaid school lunch debt that year. It could have funded two or three teachers. The School Nutrition Association reports some districts have debts as high as $4.7 million a year. 
 
 "Some families have the money and just don't pay," Antignolo laments. But he knows others are legitimately struggling because the school often gets a large influx of payments every other Friday -- a common payday. 
 
 Antignolo helped institute a program to aggressively call and send letters home encouraging parents to apply for free and reduced lunches. He realized many families likely qualified but didn't know it. His efforts appear to be working: School lunch debt has fallen to about $61,000 this year. But there are still over 4,000 students carrying debt. 
 
 "The kids we're most concerned about are kids on reduced-price school meals who are struggling to come up with the co-pay of 40 cents at lunch," says Crystal FitzSimons, a director at the Food Research and Action Center. 
 
 A family of four earning under $31,400 can get free lunch for the kids. The reduced lunch cutoff is about $45,000 for a family of four. 
 
 Families have to reapply every year for the aid. That's where a lot of the issues come in, say experts. Antignolo sees a bunch of debt pile up in early October, the expiration for the grace period to enroll again. 
 
 It's slowly getting better, as districts use technology to aggressively call, text and email parents when their kids' accounts get low, let alone overdrawn. Families also qualify automatically for free lunches if they are on food stamps or a child is in foster care. But the fact that some districts are racking up $4.7 million in unpaid school lunch debt signals that something is still very wrong. 
 
 Related: Are Americans lazy? CNNMoney readers weigh in 
 
 The lifesaver for some schools: Community Eligibility Program 
 
 "It's the working poor who get screwed," says Jill Duban, who heads up a program called Common Threads in the Lamar district that helps low-income and homeless families. "The lunch ladies are not always nice about it." 
 
 A homeless student was recently in tears in Duban's office because she had a $100 balance from a time before her family lost their home. She feared she wouldn't be allowed to walk at graduation. Thankfully, some of the money Ishaq raised in her GoFundMe campaign went to pay off the young woman's debt. 
 
 The Trump administration has proposed a massive cut of 21% to the USDA's budget, but it's unlikely school lunch funding will be impacted since it's considered an entitlement program. Still, it's a sign there likely won't be more money for these programs. 
 
 People on the front lines tell CNNMoney that the Community Eligibility Program has become a lifesaver. Enacted in 2010, CEP gives free lunches to every student in a school where at least 40% of the families are extremely poor and automatically qualify for government aid. 
 
 "It gets rid of the school meal application process and saves a lot of paperwork for the schools," says FitzSimons. 
 
 In the Lamar district where Duban and Antignolo work, 10 elementary schools qualify for CEP out of 40 total. They wish more of their schools could be part of it. 
 
 "We provide all students with a free bus ride and free textbooks. Why not provide them with a free meal while they're in our care during the day?" Antignolo asks. 
 
 --To reach the author of this article email heather.long@cnn.com ||||| share tweet pin email 
 
 One Seattle dad is determined to make sure no school child in the state of Washington has to face the humiliation of carrying a lunch debt. 
 
 Jeffrey Lew, who was born and raised in Seattle and works in a local government agency there, first learned about the issue with children across the country who can't pay for their school lunches when he read an article about it online. He discovered that when children don't have cash or funds to pay for their school lunches, schools begin to track their debt, and invoices are sent to their families. But many schools will also take lunches away from children who can't pay, or they trade out the hot lunch for an alternative cold lunch for those children. The practice has been dubbed "school lunch shaming." 
 
 Lew, who has two sons ages 9 and 4 and a 2-year-old daughter, was deeply affected by the article. 
 
 Courtesy of Jeff Lew Seattle dad of three Jeff Lew said he thinks that student lunch "should be universal" so that children can focus on going to school and their studies and not whether or not they can pay for a hot lunch. 
 
 "It's devastating! It boggles my mind that a child can accrue a debt at school," he told TODAY Parents. "I was determined to do something about it." 
 
 Lew started by finding out the lunch debt at his own son's school: $97.10. He paid that off, but then he decided that wasn't enough. "I thought, why not help out the whole Seattle Public Schools district? It took off from there," said Lew. 
 
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 In May, Lew created a Go Fund Me campaign to attempt to pay off all the school lunch debt in Seattle Public Schools, which was no small feat — The lunch debt in Seattle Public Schools at that time was $20,531.79. But Lew met his fundraising goal of $50,000 and then some, so then he decided to do the same for the surrounding school districts in Tacoma, Spokane, Renton, and Clover Park. He has now paid off over $100,000 worth of debt in the five school districts. 
 
 "This issue is important to me because I really feel passionate about helping students just do their best in school and not have to worry about having food to eat," said Lew. 
 
 "I believe we should have universal lunches," he said. "We give (prison) inmates three meals a day, and they've been convicted of crimes against our community. We force our students to stay in school yet lunches are not automatically provided for them. These are innocent little children that should only worry about studying and doing their best, not worrying if they will go hungry the rest of their school day because they don't have the funds to pay for a decent lunch." 
 
 Lew continued to research and contact more school districts to find out what their lunch debts total. He and a friend, Stephen Medawar, created the website LunchDebt.org to support larger lunch debt resolution campaigns across the country. Last week, the two launched a new campaign with the goal of eliminating student lunch debt for the entire state of Washington. Though he's not sure erasing student lunch debt for an entire state has ever been done before, Lew said he is confident they will accomplish this as well. 
 
 The dad said he hopes his children will be proud of him when they are old enough to fully understand the impact he has made on the lives of other children in their hometown — and now, their home state. 
 
 "I want them to know that I did this for them," he said. "So they will be encouraged to always do good for their community whenever and wherever they see fit and to always be kind. Because being kind is something you will never regret." 
 
 To help eliminate student lunch debt in the state of Washington, contribute to the Go Fund Me campaign here. ||||| ♥ Update: 12/2017 -Hello! My name is Amiah Van Hill. I am 6 years old and will be a second-grader at Hayden Meadows Elementary School in Hayden, ID. I have started a lemondade stand called LEMONADE 4 LUNCH. My little sister, Aria, is also helping me. I wanted to help forgive the outstanding school lunch balance of other families at my school. So I put up a lemonade stand last weekend and quickly raised over $40. It was enough to pay off the debt for all reduced-price students at Hayden Meadows, and pay down the debt at Ramsey and Dalton elementary schools. I would like to help more families and more schools in the Coeur d'Alene Public School district. I will continue my weekend lemonade stands to reach my $23,000 goal in order to completely pay off the entire debt of the district but wanted to reach more people with Go Fund Me. Thank you so much for your support. ||||| On a hot summers day, an ice cold lemonade hits the spot. 
 
 
 
 Especially when it's free. 
 
 
 
 Six-year-old Amiah Van Hill wanted to help students in Coeur d'Alene schools, so she started the lemonade stand. 
 
 
 
 "I heard of Jeffrey Lew and then I just wanted to do the same thing but I don't know what GoFundMe is," Amiah said. 
 
 
 
 She's talking about the GoFundMe paged started by Jeffrey Lew. 
 
 
 
 The page helped pay off more than $40,000 worth of school lunch debt in Spokane public schools and other districts. 
 
 
 
 Now, she's bringing it to the lake city. 
 
 
 
 "If you want to pay the money the money that you pay will go towards Coeur d'Alene to help pay off the reduced school lunch debt," she said while talking to people getting lemonade. 
 
 
 
 She's been wildly successful. 
 
 
 
 Last weekend she raised over $300 and the dollars continue to flow. 
 
 
 
 "It makes me feel happy," she said. 
 
 
 
 And her mother couldn't be prouder. 
 
 
 
 "To be able to see a lemonade stand, a free lemonade stand, free donations, transpire something so successful that can help so many more families than we ever imagined, it not only warms my heart but her heart as well," Rachel Van Hill, Amiah's mother, said. 
 
 
 
 If you would like to help donate, click here. ||||| Many children depend on a nutritious lunch to help them through their school day. Per the 2015-16 report by Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction for Washington State, 36% of Seattle Public School District students are on free or reduced-price meals ( Report ). This is based on parents filling out meal applications. If a child is unable to pay for their meal, a debt has started. Families will receive an invoice from the school district to pay the debt.Lately you may have read in the media about "lunch shaming."It is an awful thing and it should not be happening. Children need to eat regardless if they have money or not.As of May 9, 2017, the total school lunch debt at my child's school is $97.10. My first goal is to have that paid off. The second goal is to help pay off the school lunch debt for the entire Seattle Public Schools district.I am waiting to hear back from a Seattle Public Schools official with the total school lunch debt for the school district. I will update this page once I hear back from them. In the meantime, I am getting this started so we can help the children get the nutritiousmeals that they need the most!Seattle Public Schools total lunch debt is $20,531.79.As a parent and graduate of the Seattle Public Schools, I am trying to help ease the burden of these families and make sure these children get to eat a nutritious meal each day at school. I used to look forward to school lunches each day. I am sure these children feel the same!Please donate if you can. If you are unable to donate, please help share this great campaign! Thank you for your kindness and generosity!
– Jeffrey Lew never wants a child to be shamed on the school cafeteria line again. That's why the Seattle dad of three has been hard at work fundraising, with one goal in mind: to pay down the school lunch debt of every student in the state of Washington. Today.com reports that Lew first became aware of the "school lunch shaming" issue—in which kids who owe money on their lunch accounts either get stuck with a cold lunch instead of a hot one, or don't get a lunch at all—after he read a "devastating" story online about it. "It boggles my mind that a child can accrue a debt at school," he says, noting he decided to take action. First he took care of the nearly $100 communal debt at his own son's school; then he started a GoFundMe to raise money to take care of the $20,000 owed throughout the Seattle Public Schools district. Lew raised more than $50,000 and took his efforts further, paying off more than $100,000 in five school districts across the state. He also co-founded LunchDebt.org and started a new GoFundMe to wipe out the entire state's lunch debt, with a more ambitious goal of $650,000. Lew says he wants "universal lunches" in schools, noting how inmates are guaranteed three squares a day, but not kids. "These are innocent little children [who] should only worry about studying and doing their best, not worrying if they will go hungry," he tells Today.com. Lew's efforts are also resonating with the younger set in neighboring states: KHQ reports on 6-year-old Amiah Van Hill, an Idahoan inspired by Lew's work who started a lemonade stand to help pay the debt in Coeur d'Alene schools. "It makes me feel happy," Amiah says of the nearly $1,500 she's raised so far. (One state has outlawed "lunch shaming.")