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 Abby Favela, a No Kid Hungry youth ambassador working with the Milwaukee-based anti-hunger non-profit Hunger Task Force to make sure kids in Wisconsin are fueled and ready to learn. Her outreach efforts for this year’s Wisconsin School Breakfast Challenge have helped boost enrollment by over 200%, with nearly 200 schools now signed up to see who can reach the most students with breakfast. Abby’s work doesn’t stop there: She recently put out a one-pager on culturally appropriate school meals and published an article on equity in Hunger Task Force’s 2020 School Meals Report Card.
“Abby is a passionate young leader who has already begun to distinguish herself as an advocate working to end child hunger,” said Maureen Fitzgerald, Hunger Task Force’s director of advocacy. “We’re thrilled to see her receive this well-deserved national recognition and can’t wait to see where her career takes her.”
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