Midwest Dairy Council is giving $250,000 to provide Fuel Up to Play 60 Super School Breakfast grants in support of schools serving breakfast outside the cafeteria to 52 communities across Minnesota during the 52 weeks leading up to Super Bowl LII.

Through funding from dairy farm families, the contribution will match other support to the Legacy Fund of the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee (MNSBHC), with grants of up to $10,000 per school. The effort begins the day after Super Bowl LI in Houston, Texas, starting a 52-week countdown to Feb. 4, 2018.

Grants to schools from Midwest Dairy Council will provide Fuel Up to Play 60-branded equipment for schools to use in delivering enhanced ‘Super School Breakfast’ programs. Staff members will also provide outreach and coordination with the 52 schools, which are selected by the MNSBHC and will be announced beginning in February.

“We are excited to be working with the Super Bowl committee to include Super School Breakfast in their 52 weeks of giving,” said Kathy Skiba, a North Branch, Minnesota, dairy farmer who serves on the Midwest Dairy board. Skiba is representing the state’s dairy farm families at MNSBHC events and attended a kickoff event for the school breakfast contribution at Minneapolis Bethune school in November. “Our dairy farm families and the Dairy Council have a 100-year legacy of supporting healthy children, and this is one more way we can make a contribution,” she said.

“A healthy breakfast is the fuel kids need for a successful school day,” said Dana Nelson, vice president of legacy for the MNSBHC. “We are thrilled to celebrate Super Bowl LII with 52 weeks of Super School Breakfast, providing 52 communities across our state with expanded options to ensure kids can start the day right.”