ELLETTSVILLE — A Monroe County woman is working to make sure no kid goes hungry in her community.
Vickie Coffey started a free breakfast and summer feeding program at the Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation, which serves hundreds of students every day.
It's called RBB Goes Free.
“It gives you energy for the school stuff you learn," 10-year-old Rosie Nix said.
Her favorite thing for breakfast is chocolate chip muffins.
The fourth grader spends her days learning about factors and reading Winn-Dixie.
And what does she do during recess?
“Chase boys," Nix said.
Nix is one of hundreds of Edgewood Schools students that participates in the RBB Goes Free breakfast program.
“Breakfast is so important because it actually breaks your fast. You’ve been fasting all evening while you’re sleeping so this breaks it, so you get the nutrition you need so that you’re ready to learn," Nutrition Services, Healthy Schools Director Vickie Coffey said.
Coffey has a passion for feeding all kids, every day, every time, for free.
She estimates that over a thousand students in the district could be food insecure.
“Kids are hungry in our nation and the only true way to eliminate that is to have healthy meals for all. We did it during COVID and we can do it again," Coffey said.
Former Edgewood Intermediate Principal Jennifer Barrett saw the consequences of hungry kids firsthand.
“Hungry kids mean hangry kids," Barrett said.
That’s why the district introduced the program during the 2018-2019 school year.
“When we first started the program, we had about 100 of those 600 students eating breakfast every day. That’s a low number. When Vickie started up the program and said let’s get kids in the cafeteria, let’s feed them, it was such a blessing for a kids," Barrett said.
Of the 2700 students in the district, half of them utilize the free breakfast program.
RBB Goes Free costs the school district about $12,000 a year and is funded through the national School Breakfast Program (SBP), a federally assisted meal program operating in public and non-profit private schools.
Every school that participates has to follow certain standards and regulations to ensure they’re offering things like whole grain items, lean proteins, fresh fruits and vegetables, 1% milk.
In addition to the free breakfast and summer feeding program, Coffey has also worked to add second chance breakfast options in the Junior High School and breakfast kiosks in the Intermediate School.
Normal breakfast is offered before classes start.
Second chance is for students who missed that opportunity — it’s around 9 a.m.
They're working to expand these offerings to all buildings in the district in the future.
