Mini Grants Go a Long Way
Posted by Susan Berkun on Wednesday, June 1, 2011
It’s getting hot in DC – a very present reminder that summer “vacation” is nearly here. Unfortunately, for many kids at risk of hunger, the only vacation they are getting is from the breakfast and lunch that they could rely on from school meals. Across the country, of the kids who participate in free and reduced price school lunch, only about 16% participate in a summer meals program.
Fortunately the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program helps to cover the cost of meals provided to kids through programs run by food banks, churches, Boys and Girls Clubs, schools, and other community organizations. But the amount they receive per meal is usually just barely enough to cover food costs. And just like a restaurant needs more than just food to succeed, a successful summer meals program has staff, equipment, and other expenses in order to operate and succeed in reaching the kids most at risk of hunger.
To help, Share Our Strength is making a total of more than 150 grants across the country – more than $1.1 million in amounts ranging from $1,000 - $10,000 to help these organizations reach more kids with summer meals. In the 14 places where we have state (or city) No Kid Hungry campaigns, Share Our Strength has worked closely with our partners on the ground in each state to tap into their local expertise about where the need is greatest, and where there are partners who can most effectively reach more kids this summer. And the funds raised through Share Our Strength’s Dine Out for No Kid Hungry and Great American Bake Sale programs have enabled us to make summer meals grants in an additional 21 states across the country.
For some organizations, it is a simple as needing some extra coolers to help transport meals safely to a new site where they can reach more kids. Others need to pay part time staff to provide recreation activities that will attract kids to come to their site. Some need promotional materials to make sure the families in the neighborhood know that the program is there. And in this summer of sky-high gas prices, some sites need additional money for the fuel to get their meals to where the kids are.
These grants are not the only part of Share Our Strength’s investment in summer meals. We are also helping to produce postcards that help schools get the word out about summer meals through “backpack mail”, PSAs featuring professional athletes who are spreading the word, and websites and hotlines where families can learn about the meal site that is closest to them. Together with hundreds of partners across the country, we are trying to get the word out, ensure that programs are available to help feed kids, and to ensure No Kid Hungry for this summer.
June 1, 2011 | 1 comment(s) | Tags: No Kid Hungry, summer meals, USDA
Comments
1 reader comment so far.
Working with Boys and Girls Clubs of Green Country, an organization in NE Oklahoma where around one in four youth live beneath the poverty line, I have seen our organization expand from expecting to feed 40 youth a day at one of our Clubs this summer to feeding over 100 youth ages 6 to 18 daily breakfast, lunch, and a snack, at the Club. This is no surprise as some area elementary schools 100% of students are on free or reduced lunches. I have also seen us figure out ways to feed each kid for around 37 cents a meal, the maximum amount we are able to afford.
As a non-profit, we are only too grateful that organizations like Share Our Strength exist. As hard to believe as it may be, in this part of the country some of these kids may not get to eat any more each day than what they are fed at the Boys and Girls Club, and we work hard to incorporate the maximum amount of nutritional value. During the school year we also work with the school system on BackPack Program, which provides 112 elementary kids determined to be in need with bags of food on the weekends to make sure they are eating, as kids who don't get adequate food have been proven to do significantly poorer in school.
The postcards mentioned in the article seem like a really good idea- we've found by giving free scholarships through the school system to those in the BackPack club we've dramatically increased our attendance this summer, although unfortunately that has made also dramatically reduced the funds available in our budget. However thin we are stretched though, this is obviously a community in need and we are glad to serve them and appreciate organizations nation-wide that allow our country's most valuable asset- it's kids- to get nutrition enough to let their bodies and minds develop and create strong, terrific kids.
Posted by Cara Moulton on July 18, 2011
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