One in five children is starting their day running on empty.

Jessica B.’s children used to go to school hungry – they’re 9 and 5 years old. “The rent isn’t getting cheaper and sometimes it can be hard to make sure my kids get healthy food. I don’t want them growing up eating junk,” says Jessica, a single mom working full-time at a local store in B.C.

She starts works at 8 a.m. and time pressures can have them all rushing out the door without breakfast, and “sometimes money is too tight to make sure the fridge is full.”

Jessica’s kids aren’t alone – “there’s one million children that are at risk of going to school on an empty stomach because they live in a precarious environment,” says Daniel Germain, founding president of Breakfast Club of Canada. “They all start the day with a strike against them and they just won’t be able to fully concentrate and learn to the best of their ability.”

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