Currently, 19% of students are living in poverty right here in Bellevue. Many of these students miss breakfast, go home to an empty house after school or simply don’t have enough to eat at home. Healthy snacks help fill these gaps so kids get enough to eat and are able to stay focused in the classroom.
Kids are heading back to the classroom after the long winter break. For students living in poverty, this means renewed access to free and reduced-price lunches that supplement what their families can provide. However, one meal a day isn’t enough to sustain a growing child.
The Most Important Meal of the Day
The school district recently expressed a need for breakfast snack packs to support kids who don’t get to eat in the morning before school. These packs would include items like breakfast bars, cereal, applesauce, shelf-stable milk and dried fruit.
Only half of schools in the Bellevue School District offer breakfast service. Without breakfast, kids have a hard time learning during the first half of the day, watching the clock and waiting for lunch.
“It’s hard to focus because you’re really tired,” said one high school student. “You try to stay focused, but then you think about being hungry. You feel more energized when you eat food and then when you go to school – when you’re full with energy, you do your best.”
Healthy Snacks Fill the Gap
Thanks to the generosity of the Bellevue community, over 1,400 snack packs have been delivered to Bellevue schools this year through Bellevue LifeSpring’s school snacks program. Our focus in the new year will be to address the need for breakfast snack packs to ensure Bellevue’s kids have a healthy start to their day. We will also continue to provide school snack packs with healthy, nut-free, individually-packaged snacks like dried fruit, crackers, applesauce and granola bars. Some snack packs even include encouraging notes from the volunteers who helped assemble them.
“You guys saved us!” – Family Connections Center staff requested snack packs for hungry kids – and thanks to our community, Bellevue LifeSpring was able to help.
Snacks are more than just food for kids living in poverty – they provide comfort and the knowledge that their community cares for and believes in them. They make school a safe, trusted place to learn and grow. Your donations of healthy snacks help fill the gap for hungry kids right here in Bellevue.
You Can Help
You can help end hunger in Bellevue. Donate to Bellevue LifeSpring online or coordinate a snack drive. Your donations of healthy, nut-free, individually packaged snacks can be delivered to the Bellevue LifeSpring office in Bellevue Square or to our community drop-off location – St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Medina.
