Breakfast powers kids to reach their full potential, but millions of kids in need start the school day on an empty stomach.
No Kid Hungry, a national campaign to end childhood hunger in America, is raising awareness around the power of school breakfast to help change that. Through its annual “Powered by Breakfast” initiative, launched today, No Kid Hungry is rallying support around breakfast served during school hours, and its benefit to the 1 in 7 kids in the U.S. living with hunger.
“When kids eat breakfast, they start their day fueled and ready to learn—but often breakfast programs operate before the school day begins,” said Laura Washburn, interim chief communications officer at No Kid Hungry. “This causes far too many students who may be living with hunger to miss out on school breakfast due to transportation barriers or other struggles at home.”
As longtime champions for school breakfast as a key resource toward ending childhood hunger, No Kid Hungry is encouraging individuals across the country to sign an open letter to America’s children urging our nation’s leaders to help change the way school breakfast is served. The letter will be printed in a national publication next month for visibility among key decision makers.
“With support from decision makers, more schools will get the resources they need to serve breakfast during normal school hours, meaning all kids can start the day with the food they need to thrive,” said Washburn.
A number of celebrity supporters have joined No Kid Hungry in raising their voices by signing the open letter; among current signatures are award-winning recording artist Pink; actors Jeff Bridges and Kristen Bell; celebrity chefs and TV personalities Andrew Zimmern, Curtis Stone, Duff Goldman, and more. To join the list of supporters, anyone can text ‘SIGN’ to 877-877.
“I teach my kids that when something isn’t right you speak up, so I can’t sit by silently knowing that there are kids going to school every day with empty bellies,” said P!NK. “As a mom — and as a human — this is unacceptable to me. I signed No Kid Hungry’s open letter to children to take a stand for kids, and to stand with the schools across the country who are serving breakfast during the school day and being a solution to this problem. We can’t keep letting our babies go without the basic fuel they need to be successful.”
On March 10, No Kid Hungry and its partners will bring the power of school breakfast to life by hosting an experiential pop-up playground in Los Angeles at the Santa Monica Pier. Through an interactive journey and family-friendly activities — from an oversized cereal bowl ball pit, to a magnetic wall encouraging kids to dream big — the event will showcase what is possible for kids and their futures when they have access to breakfast every day.
Last school year alone, No Kid Hungry and its partners helped provide hungry kids with an additional 11.5 million healthy breakfasts in schools across the United States.
No Kid Hungry is proud to work with Leading Partners Citi and Grubhub, and National School Breakfast Sponsors Kellogg’s, Amazon and General Mills to make sure kids get the healthy school breakfast they need to reach their full potential.
To learn more about Powered by Breakfast, and No Kid Hungry’s open letter to America’s children, visit PoweredByBreakfast.org. Follow along on social media at #PoweredByBreakfast.
