Contact: Johanna Elsemore at 202.478.6554 or jelsemore@strength.org
Washington, DC – The national anti-hunger campaign No Kid Hungry has announced six winners of its 2020 School Breakfast Hero contest. This year’s inspiring line up of champions come from all walks of life, proof that ending childhood hunger takes all of us. Whether they spend their days speaking on the statehouse floor, preparing gourmet cakes and pies or serving up healthy school meals – each is using a unique talent to make sure kids start the day with a healthy meal.
Breakfast is an energy source for kids, but 1 in 7 kids in America lives with hunger and may start the school day on an empty stomach. Research shows that hunger has long-term ramifications on children, including lower test scores, weaker attendance rates, and a higher risk of hospitalizations and chronic diseases. School breakfast is a critical way to end childhood hunger. No Kid Hungry’s School Breakfast Hero award celebrates individuals who are helping to ensure all kids in America are powered by breakfast by using their voices to build awareness, enact smart policies, raise critical funds and implement breakfast after the bell programs in schools.
Among this year’s breakfast heroes is Los Angeles Chef Valerie Gordon or Valerie Confections. Last spring, Valerie joined No Kid Hungry in Sacramento to ask California lawmakers to approve funding in the state budget for breakfast after the bell; when the FY19-20 budget passed in June, it included $500,000 to reinstate breakfast after the bell grants for school districts. Valerie celebrated this as an advocate, a longtime California resident and as a mom.
"Growing up attending public school in San Francisco, my classmates and I knew which kids received free school meals,” says Gordon. “Today, because of breakfast after the Bell, children are not only protected from that stigma but also start the school day with this important meal more regularly."
In addition to using her voice to promote strong policy solutions, Valerie has been instrumental to No Kid Hungry’s fundraising and awareness efforts by helping engage chefs and entrepreneurs in Taste of the Nation events. In June, she’ll hop on her bicycle and ride 300 miles for Chef Cycle, raising funds and awareness to ensure all kids in America can start each day with breakfast.
In honor of Valerie’s school breakfast hero award, No Kid Hungry awarded a $1,000 grant in her name to a local Los Angeles area school that has recently implemented breakfast after the bell.
Accessing traditional cafeteria breakfast service can be challenging for many kids due to transportation delays, stigma and other barriers. Breakfast after the bell allows students to get breakfast after the school day starts in the classroom or from grab and go carts. This makes breakfast convenient and accessible to students, resulting in more kids starting the day ready to learn.
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About No Kid Hungry
No child should go hungry in America. But 1 in 7 kids will face hunger this year. No Kid Hungry is ending childhood hunger through effective programs that provide kids with the food they need. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization working to end hunger and poverty. Join us at NoKidHungry.org