SIMPLEGiving And Endless Breakfasts.

Disclosure: I’m participating in this awesome program on behalf of Champions For Kids and The Motherhood, but all thoughts and opinions- and crazy children- are my own.

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As I write this, my little gals have consumed their third bowls of cereal. (Question- when does it stop being appropriate to call it “breakfast?” 1, 2, 3pm? Asking for a friend.) I feel so fortunate that I’m able to provide a good nutritional start to my children’s days- but the sad fact is that a lot of Chicago kids aren’t quite so lucky.

Here are some hard truths:

1. Kids eat a lot.
2. Food costs money.
3. (Kids are ridiculously expensive.)
4. Hunger has a lot to do with how well kids perform at school.
5. While 9.8 million kids get free or reduced breakfasts at schools across the country, nearly 10.6 million eligible kids go without.

And that just hurts my matronly, wanna-wrap-the-world-in-a-lovey heart. So how can you help? Same way my kids and I plan to.

SIMPLE Giving (a Champions for Kids program) is partnering with Kellogg Company and Diamond Foods to get these kiddos the brain (and body) fuel they need.  Between April 21^st and May 5^th, head to your local Walmart (check for participating locations here), purchase non-perishable breakfast foods (or stuff from the purple display by the registers!), and place them in the purple bins at the storefront after checking out. My favorite part of this whole shebang: The neighborhood where you shop is the neighborhood that will receive these items. Also? The school which receives the most donations from its local Walmart will receive an additional $1,000. Win win win win win win win.

And if Susannah has anything to say about it, our neighborhood Walmart will win. (Girl seriously wanted to donate every single thing she touched. While I admire her generous heart, her 2 year-old inability to acknowledge “money” will have to be dealt with tout de suite.)

But listen, I struggled enough with certain parts of school (like my third-time’s-a-charm go ‘round with pre-algebra, people) and I ate breakfast every morning like it was a part-time job. I cannot even imagine these little kids dealing with hunger pangs and fractions and algorithms and cosines of the carburetor. (No joke- I literally retained nothing from three tries at that class.)

And if heading to Walmart and teaching your kids about how easy it is to give in your community weren’t enough, there’s ANOTHER way you can help, too! On Thursday, April 24^th at 12pm CST, The Motherhood is having a big ol’ Twitter party to promote, share, and yeah- even win.

Guess who’s helping to co-host this Twitter party? That’s right, a little blog I like to call Lollygag. So here’s the deets for that:

• April 24^th, 12p CST
• Anyone can join (follow the hashtag #SIMPLEGiving)- <arel”nofollow” href=”http://www.twtvite.com/simplegiving”>RSVP here!
• Five prizes of $50 Walmart gift card will be given to trivia winners
• You get to feel awesome for helping your very own community

It’s so easy to make a difference that even a four year-old can grasp it:

So there you have it. You don’t want anyone to become a “bad” student, do you? (I swear I never uttered that phrase to her. Kids are awesome.)

Please go help. Please teach your kiddos how easy it is to become involved in their towns.

And please excuse me while I refill some cereal bowls.

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