D.C. CITY COUNCIL SAVES HEALTHY SCHOOLS ACT

For Immediate Release December 7, 2010 (Washington, DC – December 7)–D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray’s amended budget has saved the landmark D.C. Healthy Schools Act. Presently, any District student can receive a free and healthy breakfast in his or her classroom. Today’s move by the Council saves this pivotal initiative – a victory not only for the children of this city, but the city’s future as well. Since receiving word of debilitating cuts to the D.C. Healthy Schools Act on Thanksgiving eve, a myriad of local organizations and individuals led by Earth Day Network banded together to insist that the government sustain the four month old program. Earth Day Network Education Director, Sean S. Miller, led the original effort to unanimously pass and fund the Act back in May. “We applaud Chairman Gray’s wise decision to protect the District’s best investment: the health of our children,” said Miller. Since the Thanksgiving Holiday, Miller has helped organize over two dozen organizations to make hundreds of phone calls and emails, dozens of in-person meetings and hours of testimony to persuade the Council. The D.C. Healthy Schools Act, which began implementation on August 23rd, will now continue to ramp up its program of services as scheduled, including free breakfast to any student in need, up to 60 minutes of exercise a day, and an additional 10 cents per meal to pay for fresh fruits and vegetables, with an extra 5 cents on top of that as a bonus to schools who enroll in farm to school programs. “This is a landmark piece of legislation that paves the way for other cities to follow in the District’s footsteps. We look forward to continuing our work with the District to ensure proper implementation of the Act,” stated Miller. About Earth Day Network Earth Day Network was founded on the premise that all people, regardless of race, gender, income, or geography, have a moral right to a healthy, sustainable environment. Our mission is to broaden and diversify the environmental movement worldwide, and to mobilize it as the most effective vehicle for promoting a healthy, sustainable environment. We pursue our mission through a combination of education, public policy, and consumer activism campaigns. Earth Day Network’s campaigns and programs are predicated on the belief that an educated, energized population will take action to secure a healthy future for itself and its children. The organization has a global reach with a network of more than 22,000 partners and organizations in 192 countries. Earth Day Network is a 501(c)3 organization located in Washington, D.C. For further information, contact: Lisa Swann, Vice President of Communications & Marketing 202-518-0044 ext. 14, [email protected] Sean Miller, Education Director cell 202-425-2836, [email protected]