CNOP - Summer Food Service Program Sponsor/Site Information

Boy drinking a glass of milk in a sunny field

Children eating breakfast at a cafeteria table

Summer Brainstorm Newsletter

The 2008 Summer Site Lists are Now Available!

Click here for summer site information and maps of each community.

Finding A Summer Meal Site Just Got Easier

In addition to the free summer materials that we provide to help you promote your summer programs, the Child Nutrition Outreach Program posts the locations, dates, and serving times of all open summer meal sites on our website meals4kids.org. This year we are adding a new feature to our website to help families see at a glance where meal sites are located. Visitors to meals4kids will now find a map of each community with pinpoints identifying the location of each meal site. Additional information about meal times and program dates will also be included on the maps.

Since so many people rely on the website as their main source of summer meal site information, we try very hard to keep it as up to date as possible. If you make any changes to meal times, dates, or locations, please let us know so that we can update our website and new maps accordingly. Please email all changes to cnop@projectbread.org. Thanks for your help!

Better Summer Meals

This summer, several communities across Massachusetts are participating in Project Bread’s Better Summer Meals Initiative in order to improve the nutritional content of summer meals and help combat the childhood obesity epidemic. This program features nutritional guidelines for breakfast, lunch, and snack that are in line with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans and are above and beyond the USDA guidelines for the Summer Food Service Program. The initiative was piloted last summer with great success and features the following improvements to summer menus:

Whole grains
Fresh fruits and vegetables
Low fat dairy and condiments
No trans fats
Low sugar cereals
Treat products only once a week

This summer’s newest participants include Haverhill Public Schools, Community Servings in Boston, Springfield Public Schools, Springfield Girls Club Family Center, and Revere Public Schools. They will be joining the list of sponsors who took part in this initiative last summer, including Barnstable County, Fitchburg Public Schools, Gloucester’s Open Door Pantry, Greenfield Public Schools, and Worcester County Food Bank. CNOP will again be evaluating the Better Summer Meals Initiative this summer to assess the program’s impact on cost and meal satisfaction. We hope to get even more communities on board by next summer so if you are interested in finding out more about this program, please contact CNOP at cnop@projectbread.org or 617-723-5000.

What You Can Do NOW to Improve Next Year’s SFSP

Sponsors of the SFSP usually agree that open sites are more desirable than closed sites because the paperwork is easier to manage and more kids are likely to participate. However, few realize that they have the power to increase open site eligibility in their community by promoting School Meals Applications during the summer.

Sites are considered area eligible for an open site if they are within a low income census tract or located in proximity to a school where 50% or more of the student population is eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Schools distribute the School Meals Applications at the beginning of the school year to determine eligibility for free, reduced price, or paid school meals. Unfortunately, many School Meals Applications are not turned in to schools in the fall because families don’t realize that the applications impact more than just their child’s eligibility for free or reduced price meals. Many more communities might qualify for open summer sites if students simply turned in their applications!

So, we’re asking for your help. This summer we will distribute materials promoting School Meals Applications to sponsors and local agencies to get the word out to their participants and clients. We hope that this year we will be able to encourage more families to complete the applications and therefore, broaden the reach of the Summer Food Service Program in your community next year!

July 2008

SFSP – Now more than ever!

Many families in your community rely on the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) to feed their children. However this year, the SFSP is more critical than ever. As you are well aware, costs for staples such as bread, milk, eggs, and flour have been rising at double-digit rates over the past year. These escalating food costs, along with increased oil prices, layoffs, and falling home values, are making it difficult for families to feed their children at all, let alone give them healthy food choices.

The SFSP is an excellent resource for these families, and we want to make sure that all those who could benefit from this program know about it! Please be sure to get the word out about your programs in as many venues as possible such as health centers, laundromats, convenience stores, food pantries, and other places potential participants may frequent. If you need free SFSP promotional materials or ideas about promoting your program, please look at our SFSP materials page and either download materials from our website or order items by emailing cnop@projectbread.org.

Thank you again for all your efforts in helping children and families at this critical time.

Simplified Summer

This year, USDA introduced new cost accounting procedures for sponsors participating in the Summer Food Service Program. These changes were intended to simplify program administration. Though sponsors must still maintain documentation of costs, they do not need to submit this information to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with each reimbursement claim. In addition, all sponsors will receive the maximum meals x rate reimbursement, and this may be used to cover both administrative and operating costs. Though sponsors should apply the SFSP funds to cover all operating costs first, there is now more flexibility in how the money can be spent. Since we are aware of the administrative burden of the SFSP, we are interested to hear whether or how this change impacts your program this summer. Please share your thoughts with us by calling 617-723-5000 or emailing cnop@projectbread.org.

�2006 All Rights Reserved Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Child Nutrition Outreach Program
617-723-5000 | cnop@projectbread.org | Project Bread | 145 Border Street, East Boston, MA 02128

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