Newtown Interfaith Council members talked about potential future endeavors at their Tuesday, May 13, meeting.

After presenting the interfaith Seder earlier last month, NIC members excitedly set their sights on ways they can help the Newtown community this summer. Newtown Congregational Church Lead Pastor Matt Crebbin said his church has been in conversations with the Newtown Public Schools district about local students’ and families’ lunch meal debt, which is around $20,000.

While his mission team asked whether they could pay off the debt, Crebbin also wanted to bring the idea to his fellow NIC members and see if they were interested in raising awareness around it. The idea, he said, is that council members could each bring it back to their individual faith communities and make an appeal to their congregation.

He continued by saying they would likely pursue the endeavor in fall, right around the start of the school year.

“It’s a small thing to do for our community,” Crebbin said.

Eliminating the $20,000 lunch meal debt, Crebbin added, would let the district spend money that otherwise would have been allocated to debt relief in other places such as the classroom. Crebbin said it may be a public campaign so as to open it up to as many people as possible. The other NIC members at the meeting expressed interest in the idea, but the idea is still tentative as of now.

“The district is looking at several different challenges right now, but this can come up as a way to support vulnerable families who are facing financial challenges and benefit from these meals,” Crebbin said.

Crebbin also said they should consider hosting a conversational-based event rooted in love and connecting with others, as he feels there are not many places for moral reflection, engagement, and conversation. One of the conversations, he said, could be around “the golden rule” of love thy neighbor. He added that the event would potentially feature general conversation, a few words from NIC members, and open-ended discussion on questions provided by the council.

NIC members bounced ideas back and forth for a while before agreeing to talk about it more at their next meeting.

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.