SIMPLE Service with Champions for Kids

Note:  I am participating in campaign brought to you by Champions for Kids and The Motherhood. All opinions are honest and are my own.

Did you know that 9.8 million kids – more than ever before – get free or reduced price school breakfast on an average day, but 10.6 million eligible kids go without? Hunger has a huge effect on how a child performs at school. In fact, 9 out of 10 teachers say having a healthy breakfast is a key to academic achievement.

I know I can tell a huge difference in my kids’ behavior and attitudes when they’re hungry, so it makes me especially empathetic toward kids who aren’t starting their day off nourished. I was really excited, then, when I learned about the Champions for Kids partnering with Kellogg Company and Diamond Foods for SIMPLE Service projects. The idea is to host or organize an event to collect breakfast foods to then donate to a local organization that serves children in need.

In the stage of life my friends and I are at, we are all incredibly busy all the time. We have kids, we’re working full time, we have baseball practices to go to and Bible school classes to teach. I thought the easiest way to organize an event to help kids would be to put out a call with friends and family for donations. I wasn’t sure how much we’d raise, but I should’ve known that the amazing people in my life would do amazing things. In just a few days we raised $200! Thank you so much to Michelle, Amanda, Jennifer, Chandra, Chemese, and Charla for your donations.

I decided to partner with the Child Advocacy Center for our donation. One of my best friends works for the center (which is a part of our police department). The Child Advocacy Center is a safe place for kids to be interviewed about severe crimes that they either witnessed or were victim of. These kids have been through nightmares, and I love the idea of providing them breakfast items and snacks that can nourish them and maybe make them feel a tiny bit better in a scary time of their lives.

I had a blast shopping for the kids. I bought granola bars, cereal bars, raisins, cranberries, squeezable fruit, applesauce, juice, shelf-stable milk, cereal, crackers, and animal crackers. While I was shopping at Walmart I even saw a Champions for Kids display:

Here’s all the food we were able to provide for the center:

And here’s my friend Kristi – so proud of the great work she does with kids each and every day!

Champions for Kids has 4 easy steps for organizing your own SIMPLE Service Project at http://championsforkids.org/simple/.  And, if you share your project at championsforkids.org/share by May 15, 2014, Kellogg’s will even make a matching donation of up to 1000 breakfast items through Champions for Kids to help children in need! Even if you do something just with your family, or with a small group of friends, you can make a difference in kids’ lives. I loved the experience of our service project and am inspired to do more soon!