The Headstart Club One Year Later
Kids get an early morning head start with our help
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| A young Cherbourg student enjoys his Cornflakes before school |
When the Kids For Life van with the breakfast food arrives at Cherbourg State School early in the morning, there are already a few students gathered outside waiting. “There la, look they coming”, an excited student shouts to her mate. She is an older grade six girl who says she is hungry when she comes to school and looks forward to the hot chocolate and some cereal. As Kids For Life’s ‘Silver Lining’ helpers unload the breakfast cereals and set up, a queue is forming. Small hands are passed bowls of cereals and fresh fruit. The children retreat to the benches to eat their food. There is a steady stream of students who access the breakfast cereal and fruit over the next hour.
When I spoke to the some of the teachers at the school, many said they had noticed an improvement in the behaviour patterns of their students. “With food in their stomachs, they can concentrate and aren’t cranky,” one teacher reports. “Nothing goes to waste”, another teacher said. “I take the left over milk and keep it in the classroom and give it to the students I see flagging during the day”.
The principal of the school, Jo Ross is delighted with the results she has seen. “We’ve noticed that this head start in the form of a nutritional breakfast in the morning has given our students the extra energy they need to get through the day.” Jo Ross is very grateful for the program founded by Kids for Life, as well as for the cereal and milk provided by Kellogg and Dairy Farmers, and would like to see it continued. “When we can see the impact this has had in the classroom, we need to keep it going,” she said. Jo Ross recognizes that funds might be harder to access in the future but she is determined to try and keep the program running to support her students in their studies in any way she can.
This year, like many other charities, Kids For Life is battling to raise the funds required to keep the program going, with corporate sponsorship drying up, and the future of the milk and cereal donations also under threat from budget cuts. If you or your organization is able to assist in any way (with the donation or sponsorship of fresh fruit, interstate freight, breakfast cereal, milk or healthy drink choices), please contact Kate Whitney, Chairman of Kids for Life urgently at kwhitney@tpg.com.au