The recent passage of a bill to expand Maine children's access to school breakfast prompted me to share a bit of information regarding my profession.

I proudly worked as a "Hot Lunch Lady" for 10 years and a food service director for MSAD 55 for 38 years before retiring recently.

Feeding children every school day is a labor of love and I came to realize I was providing not only sustenance for their bodies, but food for their minds. I once thought I would become a school teacher, but I soon realized my contribution to children was to be in the lunchroom, not the classroom.

School food service did not happen overnight. It began many years ago, but was taken seriously only during World War II, when young men were drafted for service. Many potential soldiers had to be turned away because of health problems directly related to malnutrition.

Ultimately, Congress decided it was time to end the disgrace of hungry children in America.

The National School Lunch Act became a law in 1946. Today it is considered to be one of the best laws Congress ever enacted.

Every few years, the law must be reauthorized and school food service employees from every state go to Washington, D.C., to visit their legislators. They lobby for the children who "cannot speak for themselves."

The delegation from the Maine School Food Service Association always receives strong support from the state's senators and representatives.

My passion for legislation began after I was appointed legislative chairwoman for the food service association. I learned what could be accomplished with determination and dedication to children.

All children who eat school meals receive a subsidy from the U.S. government, with the amount dependent on the family's income. In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides commodities for all school meal programs.

For this food, school programs pay only delivery charges, which, of course, are sky-high today. Grocery prices continue to rise at an alarming rate, as do all other items used to prepare meals. It is a constant struggle, but school food service workers continue to meet every challenge.

As a food service director, I observed firsthand the families making applications for free and reduced meals. I also took part in the verification process. Sometimes, I wondered how these families managed to exist in their circumstances.

For those who feel resentment about subsidized meals think about this: No child asks to be born. No child asks for unexpected illness, the death of a parent, drug addiction or alcoholism in the family, or parents who lose their jobs, can't pay the mortgage, divorce. Perhaps the child lives in a single-parent home.

Children are this nation's future. We must have compassion for the less fortunate. That is what being an American is about.

Being an advocate for children is a privilege. Hopefully, we have become an enlightened society and realize the importance of meals at school, particularly breakfast. As a co-author of the Kilkelly-Rowe Grant awarded to the Maine School Food Service Association, I am proud to say $350,000 was presented to the State School Nutrition Program to be distributed to all schools in Maine.

It is only within the last three years that the state has provided subsidy of any kind for school breakfast programs. Previous legislation was sponsored by Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, and members of the Appropriations Committee.

The landmark bill recently passed by the Maine Legislature should be a source of great pride to Mainers. A huge vote of thanks is well deserved by the bill's sponsors, Senate Majority Leader Libby Mitchell, D- Vassalboro, Rep. Pat Flood, R-Winthrop, and a bipartisan group of Maine legislators.

Helen Rankin spent almost half a century feeding Maine schoolchildren and is legislative director for the Maine School Food Service Association. She lives in Hiram and is the Democratic candidate for the Maine House of Representatives in District 97.