Dairy Council, GM Offering Breakfast Grants to Schools

The National Dairy Council and General Mills Foodservice are partnering to offer Fuel Up Breakfast Grants of up to $2,000 to schools looking to develop or expand their breakfast programs. Over the last three years, FuelUp has provided schools with more than $260,000 in funding and significantly increased breakfast participation by offering nutritious morning meal choices such as yogurt parfaits, fruit, whole grain cereals and low-fat and fat-free yogurt.

A total of $50,000 is available to eligible schools for the 2012-13 school year. Online applications will be accepted at http://school.fueluptoplay60.com/funds/introduction.php through July 31, 2012.

"We are honored to work with General Mills Foodservice to help bring nutritious breakfast options to the school environment and provide students with the resources they need to make healthy choices," says Jean H. Ragalie, RD, president of National Dairy Council, the organization behind Fuel Up to Play 60. "In this time of economic challenges and time constraints, it is more important than ever to create an environment that makes eating healthy and staying active attainable within any type of budget in any school district."

The Fuel Up Breakfast Grant is open to schools within the United States who participate in the National School Breakfast Program and are enrolled in the National Dairy Council "Fuel Up to Play 60" program for the 2012-13 school year. "Fuel Up to Play 60" is a partnership between the National Dairy Council and the National Football League to empower youth to take action to improve nutrition and physical activity at their school and for their own health.

Through the Fuel Up Breakfast Grants more than 100 schools have improved student access to high-quality, nourishing foods through breakfast programs such as breakfast in the classroom, grab 'n' go breakfast from a cart, or a second chance breakfast after the first class period. During the grant period, breakfast participation increased 94 percent.

Schools applying for a Fuel Up Breakfast Grant must participate in the USDA School Breakfast Program, have support from their school principal, district school nutrition director and school nutrition manager, have school enrollment of at least 500, have a breakfast participation level less than 40 percent, and demonstrate an opportunity to raise breakfast participation.