Rotary Club of Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates sponsors breakfast program at Keller Junior High
The District 54 Education Foundation is pleased to announce that the Rotary Club of Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates is sponsoring the breakfast program at Keller Junior High. The club's $10,000 donation to the Foundation's Food 4 Thought program will provide breakfast for all students in need at Keller for the 2017-18 school year.
"When we heard about Food 4 Thought, we realized it was very much in tandem with what we are trying to do," said Eileen Higginbotham, the club's director of community service. "We made a commitment to help students that didn't have food on the weekends through food pantries at Keller and Mead junior high schools and weekend food packs for students at the three area high schools, with the full understanding that if students are hungry they're not going to learn. The Food 4 Thought program is a natural progression for us."
The club also sponsors an Interact Club at Keller, which runs the Keller Food Pantry.
The D54 Foundation is committed to raising $280,000 to fund breakfast programs at all District 54 schools to ensure that students begin their day ready to learn. Nearly one-fourth of District 54 students qualify for the federal free lunch program, and while District 54 receives state and federal funds for the lunch program, schools that want to offer breakfast programs to our students in need must raise the money on their own. Currently the Foundation is funding breakfast programs at 10 District 54 schools for nearly 1,300 eligible students.
"The Rotary Club of Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates is such an incredible supporter of education in this community, and we are so grateful for their generosity on behalf of District 54 students," Foundation Chairman Tom Manzardo said.
Donations of any size to Food 4 Thought have a direct impact on students' lives. It costs just $5 a week, to provide a healthy breakfast to a student; a $200 donation provides breakfast to a child for a full school year. Businesses/corporations and individuals can also sponsor an entire school for a year with a donation of $10,000.
To donate or to sponsor a school, visit http://www.d54foundation.org, call (847) 357-5038, or email JenniferWaldorf@sd54.org. Donations can be made online or mailed to D54 Foundation, 524 E. Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg, IL, 60194.