General Mills Foodservice has committed $100,000 to help K-12 schools improve or expand their breakfast programs through the National Dairy Council® Fuel UpTM Breakfast Grant program.
Eligible schools can visit http://school.fueluptoplay60.com/Breakfast-Grants and apply to receive up to $3,000 in funding.
The Fuel Up Breakfast Grant is open to schools within the U.S. who participate in the National School Breakfast Program and are enrolled in the National Dairy Council “Fuel Up to Play 60” program for the 2011-12 school year. “Fuel Up to Play 60” is a partnership between the National Dairy Council and the National Football League to empower youth to take action to improve nutrition and physical activity at their school and for their own health .
During the 2010-11 school year, breakfast grants were awarded to 42 schools in 27 states reaching 30,539 students. These schools reported an average increase of 58 percent in overall daily breakfast participation from the programs they were able to fund with the grant dollars.
“General Mills Foodservice is dedicated to helping school foodservice operators bring more students to breakfast,” said Alyca Judge, K-12 marketing manager, General Mills Foodservice in a prepared statement. “Through our partnership with the National Dairy Council, the Fuel Up grants can help schools improve student access to high-quality, nourishing foods through breakfast in the classroom, grab-and-go breakfast from a cart or a second chance breakfast after the first class period.”
Research shows that eating breakfast not only helps students get the nutrients they need, but also helps them perform better in school. Today, about 11 million children eat breakfast daily in U.S. schools.1 However, on any given day, 51 percent of kids go to school without breakfast.2 Growing a successful school breakfast program can be challenging for even the savviest operator.
“We are proud to work with General Mills Foodservice to help bring students nutritious breakfast options,” said Jean Ragalie, president, National Dairy Council, the organization behind Fuel Up to Play 60. “To secure a healthy future for America’s children it’s important to provide access to nutrient-rich foods and physical activity, as well as give youth the tools they need to grow up to be healthy adults.”
Schools applying for a Fuel Up grant also must have support from their school principal, district school nutrition director and school nutrition manager, have school enrollment of at least 500, have a breakfast participation level less than 40 percent and demonstrate an opportunity to raise breakfast participation.
The application deadline is July 31, 2011. Applicants will be notified by August 15, 2011, as to whether their school’s application has been approved or declined. Educators can visit http://school.fueluptoplay60.com/Breakfast-Grants for more information and to access the grant application.
