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Show directors. The board, he said, represents a vast cross section of the community: one third are community organizations, one residents third are working through the community councils and one third are low-incom- e been the efforts and persuasion of the board and technical advisor, Mr. It has CO-OP'- s Lothrup, said Medina, that has enabled the breakfast programs to be as successful as they are now. professionals. on-goin- Breakfast programs Bringing about "social change" while providing a breakfast for children that otherwise might be in school hungry, is the concept behind the Community Organization Operations Program's (CO-OP- ) breakfast program. Altogether five local schools are providing breakfast for elementary school age children: Jackson, Sumner (serving breakfast at the Central Central City Community Center), Redwood (Redwood Community Center), Magna (Magna Community Center), and Riverside (prepared at Jordan Junior High). Ben Medina, director of CO-Osaid the agency isn't in the business of providing the breakfast programs entirely. He said CO-OP'- s function is to the programs in schools allowing for a responsible institution, the local boards of education, to maintain the initiate the programs. entirely. He said that the school districts have to maintain the programs in order to reimbursements receive the allowed from the federal Program Feeds Hungry Children by Kirk Terry way, the breakfast g government. The breakfast programs are designed to serve the low income families whose children attend Title schools. In these schools, he said, there aregenerally more low income children. Last year, Medina pointed out, $135,188 was allocated to Utah for the purpose of starting I The Salt Lake City Board of Education has taken over the breakfast programs at Jackson, Sumner and Riverside. Medina said next year, with goal of documentation the to provide a need for the program, they will approach the Granite School the breakfast programs. $41,000 was actually Only used. Medina said that due to Board of received $14,000 Education conflicts, among other obstacles, the balance of the funds were sent back to the federal government and not used. On January 18 of this year, however, said Medina, the Salt Lake City Board of Education from Model Cities last year to unanimously approved the the Salt start the programs Lake schools. Granite district, he continued, it is hoped, will continue the two programs in its area. Concepts and involvement in the program, said Medina, is due breakfast program. Because the children that are being served breakfast aren't surrounded in the void of hunger they might be if there wasn't such a program, Medina said, that an increase in attendance at the largely to the concentrated efforts of Dennis Lothrop, schools has been recorded. attendance CO-OP- 's over the District to take Redwood and Magna programs. CO-O- P in Upwards of 2 percent assistant director of the Center for the Study of Social Problems at the University of Utah. increase documented, he said. has been Medina said that Lothrop's to use guidence enabled CO-O- participating schools, said funds appropriated for nutrition, channeling them into the starting support of the program. P All a of the principals at the Medina, have acknowledged of the programs. Another reason for the success of the breakfast Medina stressed the point that CO-Ocan'tfinance, in an programs, cited Medina, is the board of composition of P CO-OP- 's Photos by Roger Taylor |