Summer Meals News

July 31, 2012 Thanks to 161 program sponsors, summer meals and snacks are being served at 808 open sites across Washington this year.  Keep up the great work! Use the Summer Meals Search Tool for meal site locations and days of operation Summer Meal Grants awarded Congratulations to the 26 Summer Meal Programs who received grant funds through OSPI’s Meals for Kids and School’s Out Washington’s Feed Your Brain.  Meals for Kids grants support summer meals program start-ups and expansions.  Feed Your Brain grants support summer learning programs with summer meals in rural communities. To learn more about what these 2012 awardeesare doing with their grants, ask them! A few highlights of how programs used their MFK funds ..... Lake Stevens School District spread the word about their new program through a marketing campaign. Here is their outreach flyer. Methow Valley School District used new tables, coolers and outreach through newspaper advertising to launch a new program in a city park. St Leo's Food Connection in Tacoma purchased coolers, ice packs & utensils to serve additional meals for new community partner sites. Pasco School District purchased insulated carts & serving containers to transport food to a new city park site recently featured on local TV. Whidbey Island Nourishes Food Bank developed outreach materials to post in local businesses, distribute to families & promote the program. Auburn School District purchased new tables to serve more kids at each site (parks, apartments, etc.) and printed outreach flyers for community events. Strategies to boost participation in your meal program As the summer goes on, programs can experience a drop in attendance.  Listed below are a few ideas and resources to boost participation: Host a community event at a site and invite the media Ask your school to do a “robo call” to remind families about August meal programs Spread door hangers or flyers in neighborhoods near your sites Strategies to boost participation (from Oregon’s Summer Meal Program) Revisit our Outreach Toolkit for more ideas to keep kids coming to your sites Have you asked for feedback about your summer meal program? When you learn what kids, parents and caregivers think about your program, it can make the difference between a good program and a great one!  Here are some ideas and resources: Talk with parents and kids while they eat or engage in activities Ask about  favorite and least favorite foods – a change in the menu can keep kids coming back Hand out a parent survey (from Share our Strength’s Summer Meals Evaluation Toolkit) Collect feedback with a staff survey (from Share our Strength’s Summer Meals Evaluation Toolkit) Consider providing Afterschool Meals during the school year Food Research and Action Center recommends summer meal programs provide healthy meals and snacks to kids year round through the Afterschool Meal Program.  Register here to learn more about this option in an upcoming conference call on Tues. Aug. 7 at 10am. The WA Summer Meals Partnership sends periodic newsletters to keep statewide partners up-to-date on the latest information about the Summer Meals Program.  http://www.icontact-archive.com/C9ZecoQL5yw3xrxuUf8TXqcObPV0atNz?w=4