Flag View Cougar Pride Students Thank Nevada State Bank for Helping Feed Hungry Students

ELKO, Nev., June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Students at Flag View Intermediate School and Communities In Schools of Northeastern Nevada met with Mark Smith, Vice President of Nevada State Bank, to express their gratitude for the bank's generous donation that funded a free daily breakfast program at their school.  The $25,000 donation helped feed the intermediate school students throughout the 2009-10 school year.  The donation also supported Communities In Schools of Northeastern Nevada's initiative to provide backpacks that are full of food to hungry children in the region over the weekend to ensure that they have something to eat when they are not at school. Cougar Pride students presented Smith with a banner with signatures of students who attend the free breakfast program.

Research shows that hungry children suffer up to four times as many health problems as non-hungry children; are more likely to be absent from school; and are far more likely to suffer from iron-deficiency anemia, which can cause developmental and behavioral problems that affect children's ability to learn. "At Nevada State Bank, we are particularly concerned about the number of children who come to school hungry or who go without adequate food over the weekend," said Dallas Haun, President & CEO of Nevada State Bank.  "We are proud to have provided the funding to start the breakfast program at Flag View for the 09/10 school year," he added.

Two years ago, Flag View teachers and staff contacted Communities In Schools of Northeastern Nevada with concerns about hungry students.  Flag View serves 5th and 6th grade students from all four Elko elementary schools, including Northside and Southside elementary schools that already had a breakfast program in place.  Teachers and staff who had transferred from the two schools had seen significant positive change in the performance and behavior of the children from the previous year when they had access to breakfast at school. The difference was so noticeable that the school contacted Communities In Schools of Northeastern Nevada to get on their waiting list for the breakfast program.

"Since we've started the food programs, we've continued to grow and reach out to more and more students," said Executive Director Teri Clark.  "Thanks to the support of the Cougar Pride Student Leaders, school staff and Communities In Schools volunteers, we are now serving at least 100 students breakfast every morning," she added. In addition, the breakfast program at Flag View has also provided a service learning opportunity for the school's youth leadership and provides them the opportunities to give back to their peers.

"Flag View Intermediate and Communities In Schools of Northeastern Nevada hope to continue the breakfast program for years to come and the availability of breakfast for all Flag View Students would not have been possible without the generous donation from Nevada State Bank," Clark noted.  "And for that, everyone involved with the programs at Flag View wanted to say 'Thank you!'"

For more information about CIS of Northeastern Nevada and how we empower students to stay in school and prepare for life, please email us at [email protected] or visit our website www.cisnevada.org.

About Communities In Schools of Nevada: Communities In Schools surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. Through a school-based coordinator, Communities In Schools connects students and their families to critical community resources, tailored to local needs.  Working in more than 3,200 schools, in the most challenged communities, in 26 states and the District of Columbia, Communities In Schools serves nearly 1.4 million young people and their families every year. Communities In Schools has become the nation's leading dropout prevention organization, and the only one proven to both decrease dropout rates and increase graduation rates.

SOURCE Communities In Schools of Nevada