Simple Giving with Champions for Kids: Donating Breakfast Goods #SIMPLEGiving

Since becoming a Mother and especially a blogger, I’m so much more aware of issues in our community that have to do with children. I’ve rallied behind our school district to make sure a proposition passed so we could build an additional much needed school. I’ve donated school supplies to children in need. But one thing you may not think about is making sure children are having breakfast. It’s such a simple meal, but for children, it’s SO important. It’s their first meal of the day and can help them get through a school day.

But did you know that 9.8 million kids – more than ever before – get free or reduced price school breakfast on an average day? That doesn’t even include the 10.6 million eligible kids that simply go without breakfast. Hunger has a huge effect on how a child performs at school. In fact, 9 out of 10 teachers say having a healthy breakfast is a key to academic achievement.

That’s why I was so excited to hear that Champions for Kids {who I’ve worked with before to donate school supplies to children in need} has partnered with Kellogg’s and Diamond Foods to encourage community projects across the country benefiting children in need. They are called SIMPLE Service Projects and the idea is to host or organize an event to collect breakfast foods that you would then donate to a local organization that serves children in need, such as a food pantry, shelter or daycare center.

I was so excited about being able to participate in this project and being able to also include my son. I immediately asked members of my church if they had any recommendations for a shelter or daycare in need and they recommended the Lemay Child & Family Center. I checked them out and they have a wonderful mission statement:

Lemay Child & Family Center provides early education and support for families in a diverse, nurturing environment, regardless of financial situation or a child’s developmental level. We believe that all children deserve access to high-quality early childhood education.  Our goal is to strengthen families by promoting children’s healthy physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development and by partnering with parents and community.

I rallied together friends and family to donate breakfast items to me – cereal, cereal bars, fruit snacks, applesauce, fruit cups – and I planned a day for Hayden and I to visit and drop everything off.

Lemay Child & Family Center participates in the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which is funded by the USDA. While they aren’t able to take my breakfast donations for in the classrooms, they came up with a great idea to set everything up on a table with a sign that said FREE for the parents whose children go there. 

They told me that 65% of the children that attend qualify for the free program and 85% of the children that attend qualify for the free and reduced program. There are so many families in need and who can’t even afford breakfast for their children. I am hoping that this will be an ongoing partnership with me and the Lemay Child & Family Center to help out those families!

It was great to explain to my son where we were and what we were doing. I told him that there weren’t some families out there as lucky as us and needed help getting breakfast. I told him it was a great thing to donate to help others in need. He loved picking out his favorite cereals and snacks to donate.

Anyone can participate in a SIMPLE Giving campaign! You can get your friends, family, school and churches to collect items to help children in need that are right in your community! It always feels good to me to be helping children that live right where I am. 

Have you ever participated in a Simple Giving campaign with Champions for Kids?

Disclosure: I participated in this program on behalf of Champions for Kids and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.