Dee Gordon and Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) will visit Union Elementary School to participate in breakfast in the classroom tomorrow
LOS ANGELES - Dodger infielder Dee Gordon will visit Union Elementary School at 7:51 a.m. tomorrow, as part of a partnership between the LA Fund For Public Education (LA Fund) and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) in support of the School Fuel program. Earlier this year, LADF committed $200,000 to School Fuel, a program now in its third year that provides universal breakfast to nearly half a million students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). LADF's support of the program includes classroom distribution of 24 million breakfast trays and more than six million Dodger milk cartons per month featuring Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, Dee Gordon, Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu.
"As part of our Season of Giving, LADF is pleased to make a school visit with Dee in support of our partner LA Fund and the School Fuel program," said LADF Executive Nichol Whiteman. "We look forward to continuing this collaboration that has the potential to impact the lives of more than 650,000 LAUSD students and their families."
LADF is the exclusive sports team partner of School Fuel. In 2012, the LA Fund, in partnership with LAUSD, launched the School Fuel initiative with the Breakfast in the Classroom program to eliminate the stigma associated with receiving free or reduced breakfast. This program has championed the addition of more nutritious options for the students, as well as created and provided a nutrition education program for students and their families. Before breakfast in the classroom began, only 29 percent of all LAUSD students eligible for free or reduced breakfast participated and today over 400,000 students enjoy the breakfast in the classroom program, an increase of more than 200,000 students.
"The generous support of the Dodgers Foundation has allowed LAUSD and the LA Fund to grow the Breakfast in the Classroom program and provide more than 400,000 students with a healthy breakfast at the start of the school day," said Megan Chernin, CEO of the LA Fund. "Students can learn when they aren't hungry. Plus, there are other added benefits when students share a meal with their classmates and teachers and experience a real sense of community. Having Dodgers players on the LAUSD milk cartons has brought a new excitement to the breakfast in the classroom experience. We highly value the support and innovative spirit of the Dodger Foundation and look forward to continuing to work with them to improve the educational outcomes of LAUSD students."
Gordon will join a 5th grade class at Union Elementary School and begin the event by leading the classroom in a brief fitness routine along with Dodger Trainer Chris Dunaway and share with the students his warm-up exercises he uses before games. After that, Gordon will have breakfast with the students and talk about healthy habits and the importance of succeeding in school. Students will get the opportunity to have a Q&A session with Gordon and will take a class photo with him.
For more information on LADF, please visit www.dodgers.com/LADF.
About LA Fund For Public Education
Founded in 2011 by Superintendent Dr. John Deasy and Education Activist Megan Chernin, the LA Fund for Public Education invests in results-oriented programs designed to ensure that every student in the nation's second largest school system has the chance to succeed.
The LA Fund builds innovative partnerships to create solutions that will improve the educational and social outcomes for students in the LAUSD. Through collaboration and creativity, they inspire action and achieve impact. LA Fund is positioned to lead scalable innovations that reach all corners of Los Angeles. Working directly with classroom teachers as well as district leadership, the LA Fund has a proven track record of creating meaningful systemic change in the second largest school system.