We’re getting the word out that offering Classroom Breakfast is a great way to increase School Breakfast participation! Yesterday, E S Foods and the got breakfast? Foundation presented our first-ever “Silent Hero Performance Award” to Buffalo Public Schools for their successful Classroom Breakfast program. Covered by TV and newspaper reporters, the event took place during breakfast Friday morning at one of Buffalo’s 28 schools that serve Breakfast in the Classroom. The award and a $5,000 grant was presented by E S Foods COO, Jeff Rowe, and Sonya Kaster, Grant Administrator for got breakfast? See the news release below for all the details and this story by TV station YNN.
RELEASE
got breakfast? Foundation Presents “Silent Hero Performance Award” to Buffalo Public Schools for its Classroom Breakfast Program
Buffalo, NY, November 12, 2010 — Today the got breakfast? Foundation presented its first-ever “Silent Hero Performance Award” to Buffalo Public Schools in New York in recognition of their achievement in implementing a successful Breakfast in the Classroom program. In addition, the Foundation also presented them with a grant for $5,000.
The award was presented to Bridget O’ Brien Wood, Director of Foodservice for Buffalo Public Schools, during morning classroom breakfast at Charles R. Drew Science Magnet School. By adding Breakfast in the Classroom this past year, Buffalo Public Schools have seen an increase in participation by 3,000 students per day. With 831 classrooms serving breakfast at 28 sites, they have an average daily participation of 21,500 students who now start their day with a nutritious breakfast.
“Our district is thrilled to be servicing so many more children each and every day. The success of this program was due to the incredible collaboration between the administration, instructional , engineering and food service staffs in each school,” says Wood. “Additionally, there was a great deal of support from the American Dairy Council and E S Foods to get this initiative off the ground. We hope to use this grant award to expand the program.”
“Buffalo Public Schools serve as a great example of how Breakfast in the Classroom can work. We wanted to spotlight their program as a model for other schools and to reward them for the difference they’ve made in children’s lives by making school breakfast accessible,” says Sonya Kaster, R.D., L.D.N., S.N.S., Grant Administrator for the got breakfast? Silent Hero Grant Program.
Currently, each day nearly 19 million low-income children participate in the National School Lunch Program while only about 9 million participate in the School Breakfast Program. Serving breakfast in the classroom instead of in the cafeteria is among the best options to overcome challenges such as time constraints and staffing issue when offering school breakfast.
The got breakfast? Foundation and its Silent Hero Grant Program were created to encourage schools and non-profit organizations to expand the reach of underutilized child nutrition programs. For more information about the got breakfast? Foundation, visit the www.gotbreakfast.org website or contact infor@gotbreakfast.org.