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PRESS RELEASE: School Breakfast Changes Lives: No Kid Hungry Issues Grants to Sustain Child Nutrition Programs

Mar 6, 2025

For Immediate Release: March 6, 2025

Media Contact: Adam Keigwin | akeigwin@actumllc.com | (916) 256-5758

School Breakfast Changes Lives: No Kid Hungry Issues Grants to Sustain Child Nutrition Programs

The California State Legislature Unanimously declared March 3-7th as School Breakfast Week Pursuant to SCR 26 by Senator Akilah Weber Pierson, M.D. (District 39)

Sacramento, Calif. –  No Kid Hungry California is thrilled to announce the awarding of $153,154 in new grants to support child nutrition programs in California. These funds will support seven school districts dedicated to expanding access to nutritious meals for children. 

Eating breakfast has a real, powerful effect on kids. Breakfast After the Bell (BAB), a key initiative championed by the No Kid Hungry campaign, provides every student the opportunity to start their school day with a nutritious meal. Studies have shown that kids who eat breakfast are more focused, score significantly higher on tests, miss less days of school and have fewer discipline programs and visits to the nurse’s office.

Thanks to California’s Healthy School Meals for All, all California schools are able to offer breakfast and lunch to all students at no cost.

Every meal served is a building block in a children’s education and overall well-being. However, last fall, the USDA’s most recent Household Food Security Report, and its findings saw an increase of food insecurity. Thirteen million children, or 18.5 percent, live in food insecure households. This means 1 in 5 children are facing hunger in the United States. 

In times of crisis, adequate nutrition supports children’s immune systems, helping them stay healthier and better able to cope with the physical and emotional stress of a crisis. More than ever, school meals are critical to communities as they rebuild and create long-term food security and economic recovery and mobility for families in California.

“Starting the school day with a healthy school breakfast ensures California students start the day energized and ready to learn,” said No Kid Hungry California Director Kathy Saile. “No child should ever face the challenge of starting the school day on an empty stomach. Schools who offer Breakfast After the Bell provide nutritious meals for most children and those students experience more success in their long-term health and education indicators.”

No Kid Hungry has provided $153,154 in grants to the following California school districts to adopt, strengthen, and expand school breakfast programs:

  • Desert Sands Unified School District (La Quinta, CA)
  • Fullerton School District (Fullerton, CA)
  • LA Promise Fund (Los Angeles, CA)
  • New Haven Unified School District (Union City, CA)
  • Val Verde Unified School District (Perris, CA)
  • Vallecitos School District (Rainbow, CA)
  • Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District (Valley Center, CA) 

This February, Senator Dr. Akilah Weber Pierson introduced SCR 26, proclaiming March 3-7, 2025 as School Breakfast Week. The proclamation recognizes the importance of school breakfast for student success, and the invaluable work of school nutrition teams to plan, prepare and serve meals to thousands of students across the state each day.  

“A nutritious breakfast is essential for a child’s physical and cognitive growth. National School Breakfast Week emphasizes the significance of beginning the day with the right nutrition, which has been proven to enhance academic performance and promote overall health and well-being. By supporting our state and nation’s school breakfast programs, we can ensure that every student, no matter their background, has the chance to thrive. I am honored to sponsor SCR 26, which designates March 3rd through March 7th as National School Breakfast Week.” — Senator Akilah Weber Pierson, M.D.

The Bill Text of SCR 26 is as follows:

  1. WHEREAS, Nearly one in six California children live in food insecure households, meaning they do not have consistent access to adequate food; and
  2. WHEREAS, California ranks 39th in the nation in school breakfast participation, and only 34 percent of pupils who qualify for free or reduced-price school meals are eating school breakfast; and
  3. WHEREAS, More than 65 percent of California public school pupils qualify for free or reduced-price school meals, yet many of those low-income pupils are not eating the nutritious school breakfast offered due to barriers such as social stigma, late buses or carpools, long cafeteria lines, and tight class schedules; and
  4. WHEREAS, Eating breakfast as part of the schoolday is associated with positive pupil behavioral health and academic performances, such as better test score results, improved concentration in class, lower rates of chronic absenteeism, fewer classroom disruptions, and less frequent visits to the school nurse; and
  5. WHEREAS, Breakfast After the Bell programs, such as breakfast in the classroom, grab and go breakfast, and second chance breakfast, are proven meal delivery methods that boost school breakfast participation and related positive outcomes; and
  6. WHEREAS, School breakfast participation is associated with a lower body mass index, which is an indicator of sustainable body fat, lower probability of being overweight, and lower probability of obesity; and
  7. WHEREAS, In times of crisis, adequate nutrition supports children’s immune systems, helping them stay healthier and better able to cope with the physical and emotional stress of a crisis; and
  8. WHEREAS, School meals are critical to communities as they rebuild and create long-term food security and economic recovery and mobility for families in California; and
  9. WHEREAS, States across the nation have introduced legislation to require that schools with a high percentage of pupils who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals implement a Breakfast After the Bell program; and
  10. WHEREAS, If California schools increased school breakfast participation such that 50 percent of the pupils who qualify for free or reduced-price school meals participated in their school’s breakfast program, an additional 598,081 pupils would receive breakfast every day and school districts would receive more than $280,000,000 in federal meal reimbursements for their school nutrition budgets; now, therefore, be it
  11. Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature proclaims March 3, 2025, to March 7, 2025, inclusive, as School Breakfast Week; and be it further
  12. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.

Sources:

  • Free and reduced-price qualification data and school breakfast participation data is sourced from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Data Bank v8.2 for California for the time period of September 2023 through May 2024 (SY2023-24).
  • Additional federal meal reimbursements are calculated by multiplying the additional pupils participating (598,081) by annual school days (167) by the federal reimbursement rate for FR breakfast ($2.81).

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About No Kid Hungry

No child should go hungry in America. But millions of kids in the United States live with hunger. No Kid Hungry is working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending hunger and poverty. Join us at nokidhungry.org.

Last update: March 6, 2025