August 17, 2015
Did you know that:
- 1 in 5 children in our community can’t count on 3 meals a day.*
- 3 out of 5 teachers say they have children in their classrooms who regularly come to school hungry.*
As the beginning of another school year approaches, one area organization is leading the way in combating these startling statistics. Dedicated to ending child hunger, LCWA client Loaves & Fishes Community Services – a Naperville-based hunger relief and anti-poverty organization – is helping to ensure local students are prepared for pop quizzes, book reports, science projects, and spelling tests throughout the school year by providing essential nutrition that contributes to their health and intellectual development.
- Breakfast– On average, students who eat breakfast earn higher math scores, attend more days of school, and are more likely to graduate.* Loaves & Fishes client families with school-aged children receive extra breakfast items, milk, and eggs to provide a nutritious start to their children’s day.
- Lunch– The consequences of child hunger at school include difficulty concentrating, headaches, stomachaches, colds, poor academic performance, and behavioral problems.* Over the summer months, when subsidized school lunches are not available, Loaves & Fishes provides lunch items for children, and during the school-year, nutritious after-school snacks.
- Dinner– Food-insecure children are 90% more likely than kids from food-secure homes to have their overall health reported as “fair/poor” rather than “excellent/good.” Hunger in childhood also has been linked to significant health problems in adulthood.* Last year, Loaves & Fishes provided 4,960 client families – including 8,719 children age 18 and under – in our community with groceries for nutritious evening meals.
LCWA is proud to partner with Loaves & Fishes Community Services in the fight against child hunger by working with area media to promote the organization’s life-changing programs and outreach initiatives. Over the past year, we’ve helped the organization reach new donors, volunteers, and families in need through exposure in such high-profile media outlets as CBS2 News, Chicago Business Journal, Crain’s Chicago Business, Chicago Sun Times, Chronicle of Philanthropy.com, CLTV, Daily Herald, FOX News Chicago, Illinois CPA Insight Magazine, Kane County Chronicle, NBC5 Sunday Morning, PBS “In the Loop,” WDCB-FM 90.9, and WERV-FM 95.9 “The River.”
For more information about Loaves & Fishes and how you can get involved, visit www.loaves-fishes.com.
*Sources: Research by Children’s HealthWatch as reported by Feeding America [Child Food Insecurity: The Economic Impact on Our Nation], and Hunger in the Classroom: Share Our Strength Teacher Report 2012