Published in the November 13, 2013 issue of Morgan Hill Life
Hunger affects one in five children in America. Despite the fact that Morgan Hill is a part of the affluent Silicon Valley region, the problem of young people not having enough to eat exists here in our own community. And this problem hurts the quality of their education.
There are many children and teenagers in Morgan Hill who every day go to their school classrooms without enough healthy nutrition in their bodies. This negatively impacts their academic performance as well as their behavior. Hungry children struggle to focus in class, facing the distraction of headaches and stomach aches. They also may act out against their teachers or other students because of their hunger.
To help combat this problem, Morgan Hill Life encourages the people of our community to support the Edward Boss Prado Foundation’s No Child Goes Unfed program. The program provides free lunches at Live Oak and Sobrato high schools for students who cannot afford lunch but whose families do not qualify for government-sponsored lunch programs.
The foundation was founded this year by Gary and Cecilia Ponzini, the owners of Ponzini’s Community Garage and Towing, as a legacy for Cecilia’s son Edward who died 10 years ago at the age of 29. While in school, Edward participated in the free-lunch programs, but sometimes he would bring extra food for fellow students he knew were hungry and did not have lunch.
With the No Child Goes Unfed program, any Live Oak or Sobrato student who cannot afford lunch can go to the Associated Student Body office where they will be provided with a noon-time meal. No questions are asked because the program wants to protect the dignity of young persons who participate.
Getting nutritious food is a vital part of academic success for our students which in turn leads to a higher quality of life in our community. Research by Share Our Strength, a nonprofit organization involved with child hunger, shows that, on average, students who eat school breakfast achieve 17.5 percent higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year.
Schools where students receive breakfast in the classroom reported improved student alertness (76 percent) better attendance (57 percent), fewer disciplinary problems (54 percent), less visits to the school nurse (55 percent) and fewer tardy students (49 percent). These benefits help an entire school community, not just hungry children.
One of the best ways to help students in Morgan Hill schools succeed in the classroom is to make sure they are properly fed. And the No Child Goes Unfed program can help accomplish this. If you are interested in supporting this worthy program, please send a check made payable to the Morgan Hill Community Foundation (with the words “No Child Goes Unfed” on the memo) to Morgan Hill Community Foundation, P.O. Box 1974, Morgan Hill, Calif., 95038.
