By DARRYN SMITH
WITH the toaster on, pop tunes blaring and hundreds of hungry students, Noosa District High School chaplain Shane Brigg is ready to serve the free, weekly Breakfast with Chappy.
Three and a half years ago, after seeing a need to ensure students start school with a good breakfast and a positive attitude, Shane decided to start a free breakfast every Wednesday.
Now, more than 250 students come along to grab a free brekky every week.
While there are nutritional benefits, especially with recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing one in seven kids are skipping breakfast, Shane said there were other equally important social benefits.
“It’s an amazing community building tool,” he said.
“Very often there is important counselling that takes place. Some of the most important chats with students occur at the breakfast. Kids can access chaplaincy freely without the stigma of feeling like they have to access it.”
NDHS Year 11 co-ordinator and publicist Bridge Muir said she applauded the inclusive nature of the program.
“It’s a safe and friendly environment particularly for those who don’t have breakfast,” she said.
“They don’t feel embarrassed or ashamed to come up and have something to eat because students across all year levels, and teachers, come up to have breakfast. Kids don’t feel like they are going to be discriminated against.”
School captain Georgia Edwards said she thought the breakfast was a fantastic idea with students across all your levels and teachers attending every Wednesday morning.
“It’s great and it’s free for everyone, especially people who aren’t able to have breakfast,” she said.
“They can come to school and get ready for the day.”
Breakfast products for the Breakfast with Chappy are mostly donated by Food Bank, which has provided over 200 million meals to Australians in crisis over the past decade.
