DAYS OF OPTIMISM FOR EACH CHILD

It is Kellogg's belief that to be able to contribute to the development of our country, we must invest in its future development, which is the children, tomorrow's citizens. With this in mind, in 2012 the company implemented, on a pilot basis, a school meal program for first degree education schools in the Region of Attica, thereby meeting a modern social need of our country and promoting a responsible attitude toward food by highlighting the importance of the morning meal to the improvement of our lives.

According to recent figures from UNICEF, approximately half a million children in our country (439,000 minors) live below the poverty line, while the ratio of children living in poverty in Greece is 23%, which is 2.5 points higher than the corresponding European average (20.5%). Moreover, among poor households with children, 21.6% are economically pressed to afford a diet that includes chicken, meat, fish or vegetables with equivalent nutritional value.

This disappointing data, in combination with Kellogg's corporate philosophy of contributing to proper nutrition and the health of children worldwide, created the impetus for the company to provide breakfast for children in vulnerable areas of Attica, in hopes of offering days of optimism by comforting families and helping to make children happy, full of energy, and enthusiastic about learning. The initiative was supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which aims to offer food to children throughout the world, to enable them to grow properly and to dream of a better tomorrow.

Recognising the importance of breakfast in the everyday life of children, Kellogg provided 29,000 servings of breakfast to children in need. Of these quantities, 9,000 breakfast meals were offered to students of first degree education in schools of Municipalities of Athens and Fili in Attica, in cooperation  with the Municipal Authorities, Charitable Institutions and Associations of Parents & Guardians. In addition, 20,000 individual servings of cereal were offered to the Children's Villages SOS, the Hatzikyriakio Foundation, Zanneio Orphanage and the Open Therapeutic Communities of KETHEA “In Action” and “KETHEA Strofi”, in recognition of the hard work they perform for the daily support of children.

Breakfast is extremely important, as it provides energy and positively affects attention capacity, concentration and learning in children. With the school feeding program, Kellogg set a goal that no child should be deprived of breakfast, and children, parents and teachers alike embraced this initiative.