Back to School season is a crazy time. While everyone starts off with great intentions, it’s too easy to lose focus and worry about taking turns in the bathroom and finding lost socks in the rush to get out the door.

Starting everyone off in the best possible way doesn’t have to take time away from getting ready. It’s as simple as putting a couple of slices of bread in the toaster and spreading on some peanut butter and banana.

While time is the thing that holds many of us back from a nutritious breakfast, it’s the inability to afford a breakfast that hinders over 8,000 kids in BC. That’s one in five children in Canada who are going to school on an empty stomach.

A report by Kellogg Canada shows that, according to 93% of surveyed teachers, hungry children are more disruptive in class and are losing up to two hours per day due to lack of productivity.

To put it simply, if a child is hungry, they can’t focus in class. If the child isn’t focusing, he or she is a distraction. It’s up to all of us to do whatever we can to help every child make the most of any opportunity to learn.

“COBS Bread and Breakfast Club of Canada share the same vision that no child should start their day hungry,” says Brad Bissonnette, Vice-President of COBS Bread. “Our goal is to raise $150,000 through in-bakery donations and a fundraising weekend from September 15 to 17 where $1 from every loaf of bread sold will go towards this important initiative.”

Breakfast Club of Canada serves healthy breakfasts to children across Canada every school day, including 8,100 kids here in B.C. Breakfast Club relies on the support of its partners to continue to provide this service. One of these partners is COBS Bread and for the fourth consecutive year, COBS Bread will be donating $1 from every loaf of bread sold at COBS Bread locations to help provide breakfast to children in need.

This year’s campaign, “Start Me Up”, runs the weekend of September 15-17 and aims to raise $150,000. At the moment, there are 110 B.C. schools on the waitlist and the “Start Me Up” campaign can go a long way in reducing this list.

The official campaign hashtag is #StartMeUpCOBS, so go and buy a loaf of bread from your local Cobs Bakery and help this awesome program. I’ve already bought my loaf of sourdough, but I think I’ll pop in again this weekend to support the cause (and because I’ve just smothered another slice with raspberry jam).

About Breakfast Club of Canada:

Breakfast Club of Canada is a non-profit organization that provides funding, equipment, training and support to school breakfast programs across the country. We are dedicated to making sure every child starts their day with a meal, helping them thrive at school, and in their community. Founded in Quebec in 1994, Breakfast Club of Canada began to fund and support school breakfast programs nationwide in 2005.

Disclaimer: This post was supported by Cobs Bread to help raise awareness to the kids going without breakfast in BC and the awesome work their doing to help. For more information, please visit CobsBread.com