How many times have you been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Probably too many to count, since it’s something that’s drilled into us from an early age. And for good reason.
Fueling yourself up for the day ahead is vitally important, especially for children. In fact, research has proven that eating a good breakfast can improve behaviour, concentration levels and overall academic performance.
Put simply a better breakfast means better grades for B.C.’s students, but not everyone is eating one. One out of every five children in the province goes to school hungry, something that The Grocery Foundation is hoping to change – all with the help of a toonie.
In the coming weeks, The Grocery Foundation is collecting funds through their Toonie for Tummies campaign at participating grocery stores in B.C., including IGA stores of B.C., Nesters Market and Buy-Low Foods. Their fundraising efforts follow a similar recent campaign by Save-On-Foods. All of these retailers are looking to raise funds that will benefit students in Western Canada. By donating just $2 at the till or at their website, you can help to support local programs and the Breakfast Club of Canada, which stands to benefit from the donations being collected. So far, the 2018 campaign has raised over $850,000.
Fueling success
School years are formative not just for children’s minds, but their bodies as well. In addition to processing the information they learn in class, kids are also growing at a rapid rate. As a result, their metabolisms are firing on all cylinders in an effort to fuel their physical and mental development.
Much like a well-tuned race car, the metabolism needs the right fuel in order to function at an optimal level. It also needs a lot of rest, which is why kids and teens need more sleep than adults — which even further increases the need for a nutritious breakfast.
“It doesn’t matter how smart the child is, or how good the teacher is: if the child is hungry, there’s no way they’re going to learn,” says Susan Cairns, executive director of the Langley School District Foundation, which benefits from the campaign’s funds. “They can’t concentrate on anything but how hungry they are.”
In fact, there is overwhelming proof that a healthy diet can help improve well-being, promote better concentration and elevate energy levels. A nutritious morning meal gives children a leg up by helping them behave better in class, reducing aggression and decreasing discipline problems. Healthy eating can even promote a better sense of community within schools.
Though the day-to-day benefits that a nutritious breakfast serves up in schools are undeniable, the long-term impact is particularly striking.
According to one study titled Feeding Our Future, 78 per cent of students who ate breakfast most days were on track to graduate, compared to just 61 per cent of students who only ate breakfast a few days a week or not at all.
Small change, big impact
Maureen Burgess, breakfast coordinator at Langley’s Nicomekl Elementary School, has been working with breakfast programs for over 15 years.
“The Toonies for Tummies program is very important because food costs are high. And if we want to serve the children a nice nutritional breakfast, we have to go and pay that money,” Burgess says
For the past 38 years, The Grocery Foundation— a not-for-profit representing leaders in Canada’s grocery industry — has been working to help people like Burgess improve the well-being of children in Canada, providing them access to critical funds and helping spread the word of both the need for and impact of donations for local programs across the country.
To date, the Foundation has raised more than $88 million to work towards ensuring that all children in elementary and high school have access to proper nutritious breakfasts, snacks and meals. Their work impacts the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people every year, but their job isn't done yet – in fact the need continues to grow.
One-hundred per cent of funds raised as part of the Toonies for Tummies campaign go to supporting programs in the vicinity of the location where they were collected. This means that your toonie is directly supporting a program in your neighbourhood. Plus, you can even see where your money is being put to work by using the Toonie Tracker.
It’s small change that can add up to a big impact. Visit IGA from February 23 – March 8 or Buy-Low Foods from March 4 – 17 to donate. To find out more visit www.tooniesfortummies.ca or see in store for details.
