The Free Breakfast for School Children Program marked the Black Panther Party’s  first community service program. Initiated soon after its establishment in 1966, by 1969 the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense had developed breakfast programs in hundreds of cities across the country. Through the donations of local merchants, private donors, churches and other funding sources, the program provided children from low-income cities with foods such as scrambled eggs, bacon, and fresh fruit before the start of each school day.