Baltimore, MD – No Kid Hungry Maryland today joined students, staff, and community leaders at North East Elementary School in Cecil County to celebrate Maryland Meals for Achievement Day – an annual event led by the Partnership to End Childhood Hunger in Maryland. Maryland Meals for Achievement (MMFA) is a state-funded program that supports universal, free breakfast in the classroom.
Administrators and school nutrition staff led visitors on a tour of the cafeteria to see breakfast preparation underway, before observing the Breakfast in the Classroom program in action and visiting with students while they enjoyed their morning meal. Schools across the state commemorated MMFA Day by highlighting the importance of school breakfast through social media, school-wide celebrations, arts and craft activities and outreach to families.
One in seven kids in Maryland is growing up in a family that struggles with hunger. School breakfast is one of the most important ways to ensure that kids get the nutrition they need. Unfortunately, when breakfast is served before the school day begins, too many kids miss out. Breakfast in the classroom provides breakfast in a way that is convenient and accessible to students, resulting in more kids starting the day ready to learn.
“Today was an opportunity to show our appreciation for an incredibly successful program that No Kid Hungry Maryland celebrates all year long,” said Tam Lynne Kelley, a senior manager with No Kid Hungry Maryland. “Studies show that students in MMFA schools are healthier, have fewer disciplinary problems and perform better in school. This is good news for our students, good news for our schools and good news for Maryland.”
The MMFA program began in 1998 with just six schools. This school year, 522 schools benefit from the program; a total of more than 250,000 students attend an MMFA school. Under the current state funding level, not all eligible schools are able to participate. More than 130,000 additional Maryland students would benefit from a fully-funded MMFA program.
The Partnership to End Childhood Hunger in Maryland organizes this annual event to raise awareness about the successful anti-hunger program. Join us by posting online with #iLoveMMFA and visit our website at https://mdchildhungerpartnership.org/
To see a list of all participating schools in Maryland, visit http://marylandpublicschools.org/programs/Pages/School-Community-Nutrition/MMFAData.aspx
To learn more about the benefits of Breakfast in the Classroom and the impact it can have on students at https://state.nokidhungry.org/maryland/whatwedo/school-breakfast/.
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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.