CSBA-member group helps get kids fed this summer
Published: April 20, 2010
It’s estimated that 1.6 million eligible children don’t eat subsidized lunches during the summer in California, although they do during the school year. At a time when the economic downturn is causing many to go hungry, boosting participation in the U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded Summer Food Service Program is a priority.
CSBA and a network of public and nonprofit groups comprise the Summer Meal Program Coalition, which works to increase the number of children fed during the months they are out of school. Led by the California Center for Research on Women and Families, the coalition recently sponsored a webinar for agencies interested in learning more about starting summer meal programs. The webinar, archived for free viewing on the CCRWF website, shares case studies and links to model materials for program development, administration, outreach and nutrition education.
One project featured in the webinar is the San Diego Unified School District’s summer meal program, started in 2004. It’s grown from serving 11,000 meals at 16 sites then, to 250,000 meals at 67 sites last summer. The district collaborates with the city and multiple community partners to make the meals available to children at parks and recreational sites, as well as schools.
School board members and the district superintendent join city council members, the mayor and legislators to promote the program to the community and news media at an annual kickoff event that generates useful publicity and outreach, as Joanne Tucker, food services marketing coordinator for San Diego Unified, reports in the webinar. A description of San Diego’s program and samples of program materials, including flyers, letters and banners advertising the program, administrative forms and suggested activities and nutrition education, may be downloaded from the CCRWF website.
The Summer Meal Program Coalition is “not a paper-only coalition,” Kate Karpilow, executive director of CCRWF, stresses in the webinar. Each member organization contributes actively to the work of combating hunger and obesity by increasing access to subsidized summer meal programs. Joining CSBA and San Diego USD in the group are the California Department of Education, California Association of Food Banks, California Afterschool Network, California Food Policy Advocates, the national Food Research Action Center, and a number of regional groups.
Easy link:
- The Summer Meal Program Coalition’s how-to webinar—“How You Can Provide Free Summer Meals for Kids in California!”—and other useful tools and information are available here.