Red Cross Good Start Breakfast Club
When Red Cross approached us in 2002 about the problems facing children who go to school without breakfast, our response was to find a solution that would provide not just a meal but an environment where kids are nurtured.
We began a three-year financial and in-kind investment valued at over $1 million and since then we have continued as an Australian Red Cross National Community Partner, providing breakfast cereal and soymilk.
The Good Start Breakfast Club program has over 2,000 volunteers currently serving more than 850,000 breakfasts each year in 220 schools in areas of greatest need.
Much more than Breakfast
Nurturing the kids who join a Good Start Breakfast Club goes beyond serving breakfast. They develop good food hygiene practises, social interaction skills and how to clean up after themselves. For many kids, it may be the first interaction they have with an adult that morning.
Red Cross staff and volunteers around the country also run workshops and offer resources for kids and their parents, such as:
- "Good Food" presentations, which teach students about healthy eating and nutrition using Red Cross materials
- The promotion of food pyramid and healthy breakfast charts, along with workshops and games to promote understanding of these tools and improved nutrition
- Hosting lunch food workshops, including sandwich making activities promoting healthy lunchbox options
- The use of print education tools within breakfast clubs: "Healthy Breakfast option", ‘find a word’ and crosswords
- Nutrition education talks and workshops in remote outstations, including physical activity promotion and food preparation skills
- Special breakfast days (such as Big Breakfast Day and Pancake Day educating children on healthy choices and recipes) and exploring alternative healthy breakfast options and traditional and cultural options
- Painting and art workshops with nutrition education components built in, such as food pyramid painting
- Mother's day open breakfasts to engage mothers into the breakfast clubs and promote nutrition
- The introduction of school gardens where children learn about healthy food choices and garden maintenance, as well as develop science and maths skills by building weather stations and monitoring plant growth.
Good Start Breakfast Club at Ettalong Beach Public School (NSW)
For Ettalong Beach Public School on the Central Coast of New South Wales, the Good Start Breakfast Club has had a big impact on the students and the community. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, some 180 children are served up a healthy breakfast, nutrition education and plenty of smiles.
School Principal, Colin Wallis, has welcomed the positive changes that he has seen in the students. “Our school is very important to the community and we are delighted to be able to offer our children a healthy start to the day."
March 2010, Issue 12 - the Humanitarian, page 21.
Does Good Start Breakfast Club make a difference?
“One of the students, before attending the breakfast club, would scavenge through the rubbish bins in the yard for scraps, which she would collect and then eat.” – South Australian teacher
“One child was coming to school hungry and was often ‘caught’ out of class going through school bags to find food to eat. This has now ceased as the child is going to the breakfast club.” – Queensland Teacher
“Teachers have commented on children coming to class more settled and ready for learning. Before the breakfast club we would often have children interrupting lessons saying they hadn’t had breakfast, and would need to be sent out for something to eat. This no longer occurs.” – NSW Teacher
Making a difference is easier than you think
You have the power to help Australia’s most vulnerable people. Support the work of Red Cross with a donation today.
Call 1800 811 770 or visit: http://www.redcross.org.au/howyoucanhelp_default.htm