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YUHSD awarded ‘No Kid Hungry’ grant to provide breakfast

PHOTO COURTESY USDA

BY CHRIS McDANIEL
KAWC NEWS

YUMA — Underprivileged youths in Yuma will now have better access to breakfast and no-cost meal programs thanks to a $30,000 grant from the No Kid Hungry Foundation.

The grant has been awarded to the Yuma Union High School District.

No Kid Hungry, launched in 2010, is a national campaign led by Share Our Strength, a nonprofit organization.

The grant will support the purchase of new outdoor breakfast carts for Kofa High School and Gila Ridge High School, along with marketing materials aimed at increasing awareness of the district’s Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program, which provides no-cost breakfast and lunch to all students.

“We’re optimistic that this effort will not only boost participation, but also help students realize the importance of eating breakfast,” says Elena Hildreth, YUHSD Executive Director of Student Nutrition. “Each step brings us closer to ensuring every student has access to nutritious meals, no matter the time of day.”

YUHSD currently offers breakfast on mobile carts across its seven campuses, making meals convenient and accessible for students.

This grant will help improve breakfast services and provide flexibility for additional uses, including summer meal programs and lunch services. By increasing breakfast participation, district officials say they can also strengthen their ability to maintain CEP status.

As part of a rolling grant program, YUHSD will have the chance to apply for additional funding in the future to extend these efforts to other campuses.

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Chris McDaniel is a Yuma native and fourth generation graduate of Yuma High School. He began his print journalism career at the Yuma Sun as a reporter in 2009. He later worked in the Pacific Northwest as an editor for Peninsula Daily News, as arts editor for The Port Townsend and Jefferson County Leader, and as publisher for a small weekly newspaper in the badlands of Montana. He is a graduate of Peninsula College, where he earned a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree. He has served as host for KAWC's Morning Edition and All Things Considered and spends much of his time gathering reports from the field in Yuma and La Paz Counties.