When Vevian Nguyen heard the strike of a gong echo for the 10th time, signaling that 10,000 meals had been made, her school cafeteria erupted in applause, and she knew her gloves and hairnet were staying on.

鈥淓very time we hit the gong, it felt like a little pat on the back, like, 鈥極h, you did something good,鈥欌�� Vevian said. 鈥淣ow you can keep doing it.鈥� 

Within an hour, Vevian and more than 200 students at Laguna Creek High School, a school in the Elk Grove Unified School District in Sacramento County, packed more than 10,000 meals to be donated during the holidays, exceeding their goal for the night. But Vevian, who is a junior and president of Laguna Creek High鈥檚 service-oriented Interact Club, said she wasn鈥檛 there to simply check off her service hour requirements. 

鈥淲e want to be involved in our community, which is having to be able to know that you鈥檝e helped a family or at least just one person out there,鈥� the 16-year-old said. 鈥淎nd, I feel like that helps your character, it builds who you are and where you stand within your school and your community.鈥�

The October food-preparing night was part of an international initiative called Rise Against Hunger, which is run by a coalition of student groups such as the National Honor Society and the Rotary International Club. This was Laguna Creek鈥檚 second Rise Against Hunger. During the holidays, their 20,000 meals will reach families in Vietnam that were affected by major floods and landslides this year. 

Sandi Peterson, a positive behavior intervention support administrator and adviser for the National Honor Society, had helped Vevian prepare for the event throughout the school year. At weekly club meetings, students created infographics and posters, spread the word on social media, and promoted their goal of packing 10,000 meals to every classroom on campus. It was a student-led collaboration and a clear, ambitious objective, Peterson said, that drove hundreds of students to sign up, show up, and lock in. 

鈥淣ot one student was on their phone; they were all talking to each other, chatting, laughing. Once we heard the 10,000 gong, it was this huge celebration, and then it started moving so fast,鈥� Peterson said. 鈥淲e were having to hit the gong for 5,000, 6,000, 7,000 (more) all at the same time. These kids, in less than two hours, assembled 20,000 meals.鈥� 

Like most schools in California, Laguna Creek has struggled to recover from high rates of  after the pandemic鈥檚 school closures. Many of those students across the state also feeling of loneliness and detachment from their school communities. For Cynthia Dettner, an instructor and supervising teacher for the Interact Club at Laguna Creek High, the night of meal-packing also showcased a rare school connectedness among students. 

鈥淎fter the Covid years, where students were often isolated, watching all of these students laugh and smile and build their own character by reaching out to help others, it鈥檚 a gift,鈥� Dettner said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a joy to see them come together and befriend each other.鈥� 

On each side of a cafeteria table, students sporting red hairnets and plastic gloves measured and assembled nutritionally balanced portions of dried rice, vegetable protein, vitamin packets, dried tofu and protein additives into pre-labeled bags. They then rotated each bag to teams of students who stapled, heat-sealed, and counted each package to be ready for distribution worldwide.聽

鈥淚t looks almost like a Hallmark movie where you see the cookie factory in progress,鈥� Dettner said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all kinds of hands and smiles working together, they鈥檙e all engaged and involved, and that lifts the community.鈥�

Although Peterson had spent the year raising sponsorship funds for the event, she said the students who packed the meals soon took ownership of the initiative. 

鈥淲ithin two weeks, I had students come up to me and say, 鈥楳s. Peterson, maybe if we go around and start collecting money on our own, we could do another one in a couple months,鈥欌�� Peterson said. 鈥淪o, now they鈥檙e trying to tag-team and do 40,000 meals in our next school year. The ticket to longevity is I know that the kids will always show up.鈥�

Vevian grew up in a low-income family, and after watching friends and family members struggle financially in recent months, she said she鈥檚 felt more compelled to help others. Laguna Creek鈥檚 new holiday ritual has further motivated her year-round commitment to community service. 

鈥淭o contain the attributes of a leader, I learned that you have to actually step up and use your voice and really hold yourself accountable,鈥� Vevian said. 鈥淚f you just make one impact, it can slowly build that momentum for the rest of everyone else to stand behind you.鈥�

Some Iowa representatives want to ban margarine and certain food dyes from schools with a bill modeled closely after a law passed last year in California.

was discussed in an education subcommittee Wednesday. Representatives decided to amend the bill, which as introduced included margarine, Red Dye 40 and Yellow Dye 7, to be 鈥渕ore closely conforming鈥� to the .

Rep. Jeff Shipley, R-Fairfield, who chaired the subcommittee, to ban margarine and hydrogenated vegetable oils from schools. The 2023 proposal passed its subcommittee, but did not advance.

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Rep. Heather Matson, D-Ankeny, opposed the margarine element of the bill, and argued research supports margarine is 鈥渏ust as healthy as butter.鈥�

鈥淚f you鈥檙e arguing that corn oil and soybean oil is fundamentally unhealthy for our kids, that鈥檚 also an important part of the conversation to have, because that is kind of what we鈥檙e saying in here,鈥� Matson said.

Matson said after further research into California鈥檚 law and the years of research from the state into associated health effects, she is 鈥渙pen to a conversation鈥� about restricting the color additives.

Matson also questioned why the Iowa bill specified just Red Dye 40 and Yellow Dye 7, the latter of which, according to comment submitted by the International Association of Color Manufacturers, is not used in food or beverages.

The California law outlaws the dyes Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6. The law also regulated the percentage of fats, sugars and saturated fats that could comprise a school meal, though these elements were not part of the Iowa representatives鈥� discussion.

Matson pointed out the California law passed years after the state funded an in which the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment found synthetic food dyes can be linked to hyperactivity and neurobehavioral problems in children.

Matson said she was unwilling to sign off on the bill as is, but would be 鈥渨illing to have a conversation on a bill that would be more thoughtfully put together.鈥�

Rep. Brooke Boden, R-Indianola, said she was 鈥渆xtremely glad鈥� the issue of food dye additives was before her and that she鈥檇 be the first to vote in favor of removing the synthetic dyes.

鈥淚 have a child who sees a neurologist, who asked us to remove food dye, and it significantly changed my child鈥檚 life,鈥� Boden said.

Boden noted there has been movement on this effort at a federal level as well with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration鈥檚 recent ban of .

Representatives for Rural School Advocates of Iowa, Urban Education Network of Iowa, and Iowa State Education Association, who registered as undecided on the bill, said they felt positively about the direction of the bill, but wanted to know more information about how it would be implemented in Iowa schools and if there would be additional costs.

Shipley moved to amend the bill to more closely resemble the California law, and to keep margarine in the bill 鈥渇or now,鈥� noting it might be reasonable to split the issues into separate bills later.

鈥淚 think these are conversations that people of Iowa are wanting to have, and so I think it is incumbent on us to reflect that and make sure we are having as wide ranging a dialog as possible,鈥� Shipley said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com.

COLUMBIA 鈥� Just over $8 million meant to help families afford groceries went unused last month, according to state data.

Last August, the state Department of Social Services mailed nearly 537,000 debit cards loaded with money for groceries to families across the state. The money was part of a temporary federal program during the COVID-19 pandemic meant to help families buy groceries during the months when their children weren鈥檛 in school.

The last round of cards, which gave families $120 per child, expired in May, nine months after they were issued. Nearly 470,000 cards 鈥� 87.5% of those mailed 鈥� were activated, totaling $56.2 million.

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Whether families used up all of their allotment is unknown. DSS doesn鈥檛 track how much of a card is used once it鈥檚 activated. But with the cost of groceries, it鈥檚 expected that families who activated their card at all quickly used their total available.

Cards remain good nine months after they鈥檙e used for an initial purchase of any amount. That means the 1,300 people who first used the cards between April and May have until next January or February to use the remaining money before it, too, returns to the federal government.

The exact reasons 67,000 families did not use their cards at all are unknown. There could be several reasons a parent didn鈥檛 use the money, DSS officials and advocates have said.

Some cards may have been lost in the shuffle of other pandemic assistance, Sue Berkowitz, an advocate with Appleseed Legal Justice Center, said previously. Others may have thrown it out because they didn鈥檛 know what it was or that it was legitimate.

The social services and education departments tried to get the word out through news interviews and social media posts, agency spokespeople said.

Still other families may have intentionally discarded the aid. The cards went to the addresses listed for any student who qualifies to eat free or reduced-priced meals at school.

And the vast majority of schools statewide qualify for a federal program that allows all students to eat for free, regardless of their parents鈥� income. That means families who normally don鈥檛 qualify for any public assistance received the grocery debit cards anyway.

The cards sent out in August were the final of seven rounds of federal pandemic grocery aid.

In all, the state distributed 2.26 million cards between July 2020 and last August providing $1.04 billion for groceries. Parents used 90% of those cards at least once, according to DSS data.

While no complete database of states鈥� usage exists, South Carolina families seem to have used the money at a higher rate than other states. For instance, Missouri had about in unused grocery aid in February, and Louisiana had in April, just ahead of their cards鈥� expiration dates.

A new, permanent version of the program began in 35 states this summer. South Carolina was not among them after Gov. Henry McMaster declined to participate, pointing to that feed children over the summers.

Unlike the pandemic-era aid, which the federal government fully funded, the new program requires states to chip in half the administrative cost.

Democratic legislators for his decision, but that would have required him to sign on and asking Congress to extend the Jan. 1 deadline to sign up went nowhere.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com. Follow SC Daily Gazette on and .

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 teach a hungry child,鈥� Cooper said. 鈥淚f a child hasn鈥檛 eaten, then clearly that child is going to be more distracted, and it鈥檚 going to be more difficult to make sure that they learn.鈥�

Innovative breakfast options, like the breakfast served in classrooms at Glenn Elementary, help improve student success in academics while lowering the need for discipline, said Jim Keaten, the executive director of child nutrition services at .

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鈥淚 think it鈥檚 starting to show in the academics that the kids being able to eat and focus and spend more time鈥攊nstructional time鈥� is really making an impact. And they鈥檙e focusing on education as opposed to discipline,鈥� Keaten said.

The funding will provide grants of up to $50,000 per school nutrition program to allow schools to better provide students innovative school breakfast options, such as breakfast in the classroom, grab-and-go breakfasts, or second chance breakfasts, when students have the option of eating breakfast during a break.

鈥淗opefully it can get more school systems and schools involved in this program because we know that it means a lot for them to do this,鈥� Cooper said.

Cooper is partnering with the (NCAH) and the (CHI) for this effort.

The governor said the effort would particularly help schools with high numbers of low income students.

The innovative breakfast program at Glenn Elementary, which has been in place for about two years, allows all students 鈥� regardless of economic status 鈥� to arrive to class early for a free breakfast and receive bonus instructional time with teachers while they eat.

In the past two years, Glenn Elementary School鈥檚 performance grade has increased by 15 points, said Principal Matthew Hunt, and the extra time students can spend with their teachers has added about three additional weeks of instructional time for some students.

鈥淔ood is the most important school supply, and getting kids off to a good start early in the morning with a good breakfast is, I think, the right thing to do,鈥� said Morgan Wittman Gramann, executive director of NCAH.

Tanitra Edwards, a third grade math and science teacher at Glenn Elementary, said she is a fan of the program as it allows her more time to connect with her students, especially those who might need extra help.

鈥淚f there鈥檚 a student that I know is needing a little more support or something from a previous day, I鈥檓 allowed to work with them (at) that time,鈥� Edwards said. 鈥淥f course, if they were in the cafeteria, I wouldn鈥檛 have that time with them.鈥�

Cooper participated and observed as students at Glenn Elementary School were served individual bags of breakfast food early in the morning. Students in Edwards鈥� class worked on an online math game while they ate.

鈥淭hey just love coming in and having those options available,鈥� Edwards said.

Keaten recalled the stigma he felt as a child eating free breakfast at school, when students who needed free meals were separated from others, letting everyone know who the 鈥減oor kid鈥� was. Free universal breakfasts for all students cuts down on that stigma, he said.

鈥淭o be able to get all the kids to eat in the classroom with no stigma to me is just a tremendous gain,鈥� Keaten said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like one of my life goals to take that stigma away from kids.鈥�

The innovative breakfast program at Glenn Elementary emerged due to necessity during the pandemic as students had to eat in classrooms rather than in the cafeteria, Keaten said.

While eating in the classrooms, the school found students had more time to complete homework and receive help while school staff completed administrative tasks and morning announcements before class began, freeing up time during the school day, Keaten said.

Cooper said other ways to mitigate hunger among students include adequately funding public schools and teachers while employing more school social workers and counselors who can help support the 鈥渨hole child鈥� and their family.

鈥淥ur schools can help connect families to services and help children not only get better nutrition, but be safer and have healthier lives all together,鈥� Cooper said.

Expanded breakfast programs will also benefit students who may have food available at home, but aren鈥檛 ready to eat first thing in the morning at home, Cooper said.

The $1.4 million in funding comes from the federal Emergency Assistance for Non-Public Schools funds that have gone to the Governor鈥檚 Emergency Education Relief fund.

Applications for the grants will open in the next few months. When approved, the school systems will receive the support for their breakfast programs. All funding must be spent by September 2024.

鈥淲e celebrate this amazing opportunity to create more access for breakfast for more kids through innovative breakfast programs,鈥� said Lou Anne Crumpler, director of CHI.

In the wake of the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided all public school students across the nation with free breakfasts and lunches, though that opportunity ended at the start of the 2022-23 school year.

Cooper said on Tuesday that state is making efforts toward securing universal lunches for students, though the work is still in progress. The 2023-24 state budget included funding to , which means students qualifying for reduced-price lunches can now eat for free. The co-pay for reduced-price breakfast was eliminated in 2011.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.