It’s National School Breakfast Week and we believe in the power of a good breakfast for all. To learn more about what others are doing to ensure Hoosier students get that important first meal, we talked with our friend, Tarrah Westercamp about her work with the “No Kid Hungry” campaign. Tarrah has worked in school nutrition for over 7 years, and is the current Indiana School Breakfast Manager for No Kid Hungry.
What is No Kid Hungry?
No Kid Hungry is a national campaign run by Share Our Strength, a nonprofit working to solve problems of hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world. After 25 years of successfully investing in local nonprofits and helping find the best approaches to eradicating poverty and hunger, Share Our Strength launched No Kid Hungry in 2010. As a child hunger organization, ending childhood hunger is our primary focus. In Indiana, we are focused on school breakfast.
Why is breakfast important?
How does your morning start? Breakfast? Coffee? For 380,000 Hoosier students who may rely on school meals, breakfast isn’t part of their day. Too many of our students are starting school without the fuel to complete the day.
Research shows students who start their day with a nutritious breakfast:
- Achieve higher scores on standardized tests
- Attend more days of school per year
- Take fewer trips to the nurse’s office
- Exhibit fewer behavior problems which leads to calmer classrooms
Increased breakfast participation also means increased funds for school nutrition budgets, and a recent study showed that Breakfast after the Bell models can reduce chronic absenteeism by up to 6 percentage points.
What is Indiana doing about it?
Because of the great need to feed more students breakfast, partners across Indiana are working collaboratively to help students have more access to school breakfast. The Indiana Breakfast Task Force is comprised of local, state and national organizations including No Kid Hungry, American Dairy Association Indiana Inc, the Indiana Department of Education, IU Health, St. Vincent Ascension, Community Health Network, Purdue Extension, and more! The Indiana Breakfast Task Force supports regional based outreach teams to benefit school breakfast.
What are ways to celebrate National School Breakfast Week?
The biggest breakfast celebration occurs March 2-6, 2020 – National School Breakfast Week! Indiana’s Breakfast Task Force partners have come together to provide resources for schools to celebrate. For resources and contests to gear up for National School Breakfast Week, click here.
Want to apply for a breakfast grant? Click here to see the many grant options available.
What support is available to schools? Click here to find out.
Is your school a Fuel Up to Play 60 school? Click here to see more opportunities available from the American Dairy Association Indiana.
