Retired firefighter carves swords to help pay student lunch debt

A retired firefighter in a St. Louis suburb is hand-carving swords and using donations from the hobby to pay down student lunch debt at local schools, Atlanta News First reported.

Chris Monroe began making swords for his grandchildren, and as word spread among neighborhood kids, he expanded his creations to more than 100 swords over three years, according to Live 5 WCSC.

For each sword, Monroe accepts donations which he then donates to a local school district to help reduce student lunch debt. Each donation is made in the name of the child who supported his work, WBTV reported.

Monroe was motivated to start this effort after learning about the prevalence of school lunch debt from his son-in-law, a teacher, who explained that many students live just above the poverty line and struggle with lunch costs. Around 20% of Missouri students are directly certified for free or reduced-price lunches through federal assistance programs, while another 48% are eligible based on household income.

Monroe hopes to increase the amount of lunch debt paid off with new creations, including a deer antler knife. His friend Stephanie Auping plans to sell his creations in her store, The Emporium, in Washington, Missouri, to help expand the initiative, NBC12 reported.