Hunger Free Minnesota and several partners kicked off a campaign today to encourage schools to serve more breakfasts to students who qualify for free or reduced price lunches.
With support from the Midwest Dairy Council, the group pledged today to offer a dime per meal to 30 schools that agree to serve more breakfasts to students who live in poverty. The offer caps at 25,000 meals and runs through the 2013-2014 school year.
An estimated 29 million breakfasts are missed annually by low-income Minnesota students, according to past studies.
"We found that there are many students from low-income households who need breakfast but do not participate due to a number of reasons including time limitations, transportation and stigma," said Peggy Flanagan, executive director of the Children Defense Fund, one of the Hunger-Free Minnesota's partners.
To kick off the campaign, representatives from Hunger Free Minnesota, Minneapolis Public Schools,and the Midwest Dairy Council, served breakfast this morning at Pillsbury Elementary. Lieutenant Gov. Yvonne Prettner Solon also participated.
Schools interested in participating in the School Breakfast Challenge, should visit Hunger-Free Minnesota's website for more information.
