Now serving breakfast at Roosevelt School…
I’ve been helping serve breakfast to students at Janesville’s Roosevelt Elementary School since my son started attending classes there in third grade. He’s now 26.
A handful of churches rotate, taking turns serving for a week each. I volunteer with St. John Vianney Catholic Church. The camaraderie with fellow parishioners is part of the attraction. But so is helping so many bright young faces.
I enjoy taking games to help keep the kids occupied, and I serve juice or milk and chat with the students.
Through the years, we’ve had our share of troublemakers. But Roosevelt is blessed with a bunch of wonderful kids this year. I haven’t had to break up any spats so far this fall. I was surprised, too, that none of the kids seemed too hyped up on sugar from too many Halloween treats yesterday.
I noticed our story on Page 6B today that said nearly half of all U.S. children will be on food stamps at some point during childhood. I know the poverty level in Janesville is rising, but that still was a startling statistic.
Those of you who suggest Breakfast Clubs just relieve parents of their responsibility to properly feed their children are ignoring reality. Some of these kids would go hungry if it weren’t for what we offer them. You often can tell which ones by the amount of food that certain kids gobble up each day. You can't help but wonder whether their last good meal was lunch at school the day before.
Greg Peck
Nov 4, 2009 at 12:44 p.m.
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“In fifty years it will not matter how much money I make, the size of the house I live in or all the material things I may have, but if I have made a difference in the life of a child.”
You, Greg, and many others ARE making a difference in the lives of children. Thank you to all of the volunteers in our district!
Peggy Sheridan
Board of Education
School District of Janesville
Nov 3, 2009 at 4:34 p.m.
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You are a wonderful role model! My kids are all grown, but I do have 4 grandkids that are in the Janesville School District. I remember when my kids were little there was free lunch but not breakfast. I always made sure mine had breakfast, it was an absolute necessity! But I know alot of friends of my kids went without. Alot of their friends would come to our house because I had an open cupboard, open refridgerator policy. They could eat anything they wanted. Thank you for your kindness.
Nov 3, 2009 at 2:36 p.m.
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May God Bless all the volunteers at breakfast club throughout the city! What wonderful acts of kindness these people show every morning! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, btw, my kids do not attend on a regular basis due to daycare, but I am aware of how many are served at my school on a daily basis is averaging about 125.
Nov 3, 2009 at 1:20 p.m.
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I have a second grader at Roosevelt, and I love it there! I think it's great you still stay involved...stop in to the craft fair this weekend if you get a chance!
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At Roosevelt, we currently have over %30 of our kids on free or reduced lunch. I know a lot of parents who take advantage of Breakfast Club...not only does it help ensure that the students are given a breakfast, it helps out with scheduling. A lot of parents need to be at work at 8:00, so having breakfast club available for their kids is a huge help. In addition to that, I think it's nice social outlet for the kids.
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Anyways, thanks for helping out the students, Greg. Too many don't or can't be involved, it's people who recognize that they are lucky enough to have the opportunity to help out and actually do that make a big difference!
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