Think of all the brain-power that goes into learning.  As we all see in the papers and journals these days…this translates into calories and thus food!

For many years, schools across the country have understood the importance of nutrition for successful learning.  The national school lunch programs were developed for just this reason and provide millions of children with a nutritionally balanced meal at low or no cost every school day.  But what do these children eat on the weekend?  Do they eat anything?  The Kiwanis Club of Fairfax wondered just this and has started a program to address this growing need within the Fairfax City schools.  This year, we adopted a local elementary school as the pilot school for our new Meals for Young Minds program. 

Through this program, Kiwanis members purchase food and assemble the kits which provide three meals a day for two days per package.  This is designed to provide easy to prepare and store food for when children are not in school.  They are big enough to hold several meals and yet small enough to easily bring home in a student’s backpack.  Kiwanis delivers these packages to the school and coordinates with school staff to distribute this food to children in need.  We currently are providing food kits to approximately 40 students.  But the need is great and growing in today’s troubled economy.

This year, the Kiwanis Club of Fairfax’s Meals for Young Minds program is the proud recipient of the 2011 Chocolate Lovers Festival grant!  This essential funding will enable our Club to finance and hopefully expand this program within the existing school and to potentially branch out to other needy schools in the area.