News

CBS golf reporter pays off lunch debts of underprivileged children

January 01, 2020
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Fifty children and their families in upstate New York won't have to worry about lunch debt, thanks to the charitable work of Dottie Pepper.

According to the Times Union, the former LPGA star and current CBS Sports reporter paid the bill of unpaid meals at Dorothy Nolan Elementary School in Wilton, N.Y.

“It’s debt that didn’t need to be sitting there, burdening people,” Pepper told the Times Union.

Pepper and her sister attended Dorothy Nolan, a school where 20 percent of children are eligible for free or reduced price lunches due to low family income levels. Pepper told the paper she is donating to another school, but declined to name which one.

“For some children, school meals are the only meals they are guaranteed to get,” Pepper said. “Other meals aren’t such a guarantee. They need fuel in order to learn. If we can provide fuel and a little less burden on parents, I think it’s the right thing to do.”

The 1992 LPGA Player of the Year, Pepper was recently promoted to lead on-course reporter for CBS Sports.

“I just thought it’s been a really good year for my husband and I and if we can make it a little easier for families that didn’t have much on the holidays," Pepper said. "It was just a good thing to do.”