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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The School Breakfast Program has served our nation | ||||||
| 3 | admirably since it was permanently established in 1975; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, The School Breakfast Program is dedicated to the | ||||||
| 5 | health and well-being of our nation's children; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, The School Breakfast Program joins and has been | ||||||
| 7 | joined through the years by many other excellent child | ||||||
| 8 | nutrition programs; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois is dedicated to expanding | ||||||
| 10 | access to and enhancing current School Breakfast Programs | ||||||
| 11 | throughout the State to ensure that our children are provided | ||||||
| 12 | with the means to succeed; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, Research shows that school-age children who | ||||||
| 14 | experience hunger have higher levels of absenteeism, make more | ||||||
| 15 | visits to the school nurse, and have more challenges than | ||||||
| 16 | children receiving a well-balanced diet; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, Frequent studies have shown that meals provided at | ||||||
| 18 | school not only contribute to the nutritional needs of students | ||||||
| 19 | but also significantly increase and enhance their ability to | ||||||
| 20 | learn; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Parents, teachers, and school food professionals | ||||||
| 2 | are responsible for providing the children of Illinois with the | ||||||
| 3 | basic resources needed to grow, learn, and discover their own | ||||||
| 4 | potential in order to live happy, fulfilling lives; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Breakfast After the Bell programs, which make | ||||||
| 6 | breakfast part of the school day, are desirable and effective | ||||||
| 7 | ways of ensuring more students realize the benefits of | ||||||
| 8 | breakfast; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, Offering breakfast as part of the school day | ||||||
| 10 | improves children's diets, builds healthy, lifelong eating | ||||||
| 11 | habits, and allows students to begin their days focused and | ||||||
| 12 | ready to learn; the benefits of these models are maximized when | ||||||
| 13 | eligible schools offer free meals to all students at no cost; | ||||||
| 14 | and
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| 15 | WHEREAS, The Community Eligibility Provision offers | ||||||
| 16 | high-need Illinois schools the opportunity to serve breakfast | ||||||
| 17 | to all students at no cost; this provision has the added | ||||||
| 18 | benefits to schools of reducing administrative costs, | ||||||
| 19 | eliminating the collection of paper applications, streamlining | ||||||
| 20 | meal service operations, and increasing the reimbursements | ||||||
| 21 | schools receive from federal child nutrition programs; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, More than 74 million school breakfast are served | ||||||
| 2 | yearly to students at more than 3,400 schools in Illinois; | ||||||
| 3 | therefore, be it
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| 4 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 5 | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 6 | we do hereby proclaim March 2-6, 2020 as School Breakfast Week | ||||||
| 7 | in Illinois; and be it further
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| 8 | RESOLVED, That we strongly encourage all citizens to | ||||||
| 9 | recognize the efforts made by schools, their school food | ||||||
| 10 | service professionals, and school administrators to ensure the | ||||||
| 11 | health, safety, and success of our children.
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