Wyoming First Lady Jennie Gordon is touring the state with a focus on combating childhood hunger.
According to No Kid Hungry, a campaign by the hunger and poverty nonprofit Share Our Strength, one in six kids in Wyoming struggle with hunger and only 32 percent of kids who need school breakfast are getting it.
Gordon stopped in Gillette on Tuesday to spotlight local organizations that fight food insecurity. She said it's part of gathering information for a new initiative. The program will be with the Wyoming Department of Education to institute a universal breakfast for students in classrooms across the state. She said she doesn't want students to feel insecure about making a choice to get their meals.
"The kids have go to the cafeteria to get their meal, so they're sort of choosing between going to the playground and playing with their friends or going to get their meal. So, if they can do it in the classroom, the stigma's gone. They can still play with their friends, and it's almost just another tool," she said.
Gordon said she wants to connect groups across the state who are already working on the issue to make the project successful.
"We don't want to reinvent the wheel. There's all these people who are doing it. We'll just hopefully network them and shine a spotlight so people are aware and can help if they would like to," she said.
Gordon said they hope to roll out the initiative by end of summer.
