WithinReach Summer Meals

TOGETHER.
WE CAN FEED MORE KIDS THIS SUMMER.

Help hungry kids find free meals this summer! Starting in June, nearly 900 Summer Meals sites across the state will offer free meals and snacks to kids aged 18 and under. Join forces with the Summer Meals Partnership to expand participation in your community.

Spread the Word about Summer Meals

Join us for a ThunderClap event on July 3rd

 

Sign Up Today!

We are doing a Summer Meals ThunderClap on July 3 and would love for your help.  For those who do not know, Thunderclap is a tool/campaign that lets you and others share the same message at the same time via Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.  It is really simple to do - just follow this link, chose to support the campaign using Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or all and ThunderClap will share our message for you next week.  And if you feel really motivated, invite some friends to join our ThunderClap campaign.

For more ways to spread the word, check out the 

Summer Meals Promotion Toolkit at Parenthelp123.org 

Summer Meals Spotlight:
 Anacortes Boys & Girls Club and Bayview Apartments

Food Lifeline is sponsoring a total of 11 Summer Meals sites this year, in Anacortes, Oak Harbor, Langley, Sultan, Gold Bar and Bellevue.  On June 19th the Anacortes Boys & Girls Club kicked off their first day of lunches and afternoon snacks in the basement of City Hall.  Bayview Apartments will begin serving Summer Meals on July 7th, but the Learning and Lunches Program threw a kick-off party on June 19th as well.

At the Boys and Girls Club, the wonderful staff greeted each child by name as they served a lunch of orange slices, cheese and crackers, fresh broccoli and cauliflower florets with dip, and milk.  The kids ate together, putting any unopened food into a discard box or cooler so that other kids could eat it if they were still hungry.  The kids helped clean and sweep the gym, and then scattered off to play games and gear up for that afternoon's activities, in this case a water balloon fight!

The Bayview Apartments site caters to families who live in and around the apartment complex.  Moms, Dads and kids of all ages were drawn in by hula hoops and drum decorating, and offered a chance to participate in literacy activities all summer.  Boxes full of books were organized by age group, and kids were encouraged to read to their hearts content.  One mother was reading with her two daughters, and mentioned that this is the second year her family has attended the Learning and Lunches Program, and she especially appreciates that each of her kids get to choose one free book to take home each week.

At both sites, it was a joy to watch kids playing together, eating together, and building bright futures.

Partner for Free Fun Activities at your Summer Meals Site 

United Healthcare Community Plan (UHC) would like to partner with your Summer Meals site to educate families and kids about health and nutrition through fun activities for kids. UHC will work with you to customize an event to meet your needs, that may include Sesame Workshop Food For Thought activities and games, a visit from Dr. Health E. Hound, and fun giveaways!  Call Sylvia Villalovos-Aguilar at(206) 749-4304 to learn more.

Don't Forget!

Summer Meals Sponsors, we know you are busily preparing for your sites to open!  As you get up and running please remember to:

1.     Complete all monitoring visits: preapproval, 1st week and 4th week reviews

2.     If you have site changes, please update your site application with OSPI before the change occurs 

Questions?  We're here to help!  Contact Jennifer Mitchell at (360) 725-6056

Thank You From the Bottom of our Stomachs!

 

A shout out to all the Schools, Districts, and Organizations who are helping connect families to Summer Meals sites by posting the Summer Meals site finder "widget" or link to ParentHelp123.org on their websites or blogs.

Thanks!

School Districts: Puyallup, Issaquah, Seattle, Chief Leschi, Vancouver, Eatonville, Tacoma, Yakima, Bremerton, Highline, Shoreline, Kalama, La Center, Blaine, Coupeville, North Kitsap, Nooksack

Schools: Woodlands Elementary (Central Kitsap), John Hay Elementary (Seattle), Einstein Middle School (Shoreline)

And Community:  www.soundsfunmom.com, www.phinneywood.com  

For more Information contact: 

Acacia Larson
Child Nutrition Program Manager

206.830.7643

Share with your colleagues!

WithinReach makes the connections Washington families need to be healthy.

STAY CONNECTED

    

Food Bank Manager/Executive Assistant Position at Immanuel Community Services

Immanuel
COMMUNITY    SERVICES

Food Bank Manager/Executive Assistant--Contract Position

IMMANUEL COMMUNITY SERVICES OVERVIEW
Immanuel Community Services (ICS) is a nonprofit organization offering services to individuals who are hungry, homeless and/or struggling to overcome addictions. We are located in South Lake Union and all of our services are provided in Immanuel Lutheran Church. Our programs include a Food Bank, a Hygiene Center, a clean and sober shelter and a monthly community lunch. More information can be found on our website at www.icsseattle.org.

POSITION SUMMARY AND RESPONSIBILITIES
This is a new position for ICS and will be a six month contract with the possibility of extension. The person hired for this position will have oversight of the ICS Food Bank, refine the Volunteer Program and assist the Executive Director with Development and Community Relations activities. This is a paid position for 20 hours per week.

Attention to detail, good judgment, efficiency and the ability to communicate well with a wide range of individuals are essential skills for this position. The position will be supervised by the Executive Director. The person will participate on a team of employees from ICS and Immanuel Lutheran Church. Primary responsibilities are as follows:

• Oversight of all Food Bank operations including ordering food from local food distributors, timely completion of monthly reports, coordination of volunteer pick-ups, storing food in compliance with Food Safety Regulations and organizing food for food bank distribution days.
• Supervise a part-time pantry assistant
• Coordinate with other ICS programs to ensure that the community lunch and men’s shelter program have access to food as required
• Manage current volunteers, track volunteer hours and maintain schedules
• Enhance the volunteer program by refining policies and procedures, creating training programs and developing recruitment efforts
• Assist with Development and Community Relations activities.
• Assist with marketing/community education efforts to inform and educate the community about hunger, the food bank, the need for food donations and volunteer opportunities
• Attend weekly staff meetings and a monthly Seattle Food Committee meeting.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s or Master’s  degree in a related field or two to three year’s experience with a nonprofit organization or other comparable experience
• Demonstration proficiency with Microsoft Office (Word, Outlook, Excel) and with social media including Facebook and Twitter
• Ability to work in a self-directed manner as well as part of a team.
• A keen interest in the mission of ICS
• Excellent communication skills both written and oral
• Experience working with a diverse population
• Management experience desired but not required

HOW TO APPLY
Please send a letter of interest and resume to icsdirector@immanuelseattle.org.

1215 Thomas Street, Seattle, WA 98109 • 206.622.1930 • www.icsseattle.org

FRAC: Summer Food Participation Grows Across Nation

Summer Food Participation Grows Across Nation
Momentum Signals Progress and Outlines Path for Continued Growth

Download Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation - Summer Nutrition Status Report 2014(pdf)

Washington, D.C. – June 2, 2014 – In 2013, for the first time in a decade, the number of low-income children eating summer meals saw a substantial increase year-over-year, according to a new report released by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). Nearly three million children participated in the Summer Nutrition Programs in July 2013, an increase of 161,000 children, or 5.7 percent, from July 2012.

Not only did the number of low-income children eating summer meals grow, but there also was progress in reaching a higher proportion of children in need. In its annual report, Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation, FRAC measures the success of Summer Nutrition Programs at the national and state levels by comparing the number of children receiving summer meals to the number of low-income children receiving school lunch during the regular school year. The programs grew to serve 15.1 children for every 100 low-income children who participated in school lunch during the 2012-2013 school year, a modest increase from the 14.3:100 served in the 2011-2012 school year.

“More low-income children are eating federally-funded summer meals subject to federal nutrition standards, and that’s good news for families and communities across the nation,” said FRAC President Jim Weill. “Summer meals are moving in a positive direction, but we need to accelerate progress. Summer meals only are reaching one in seven low-income children. States and cities should continue to build on their successes so we can keep reducing the summer hunger gap.”

The Summer Nutrition Programs, which include the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program over the summer period, provide free meals at participating summer sites at schools, parks, other public agencies, and nonprofits for children under 18.

A good deal of the growth in summer food participation can be attributed to the leadership of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which made increasing the numbers of summer meals served a top priority for the agency. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack set the goal of providing five million more meals in the summer of 2013; the results show that USDA surpassed its goal, serving seven million more meals in 2013 than in 2012. USDA achieved these results by partnering with national organizations to increase the number of sponsors and sites providing summer meals and to increase the number of children who participated; and by undertaking aggressive steps to provide hands-on assistance to states, including targeted help in five states (Arkansas, California, Colorado, Rhode Island, and Virginia). This summer, USDA is focusing efforts in six states (Alabama, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, and Texas), and launched “SummerFoodRocks,” a free web-based application that features a site locator and search tool, and works on devices such as iPads, iPhones, Blackberrys, and Androids.

Still, the Summer Nutrition Programs must be further improved and strengthened to enable them to serve food to even more children in need. Looking ahead to the upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization, FRAC noted that Congress should make some key investments in the program, most notably looking at ways to help more areas qualify for the Summer Nutrition Programs—making the rules conform to those in other programs – and easing administrative requirements.

Increasing participation means more nutritious food for hungry children, but it also means more federal funding for communities. If every state had reached the goal of 40 children participating in Summer Nutrition in July 2013 for every 100 receiving free or reduced-price lunch during the 2012-2013 school year, an additional 4.8 million children would have been fed each day, and states would have collected an additional $365 million in child nutrition funding in July alone.

“Last summer shows us that we can make very large strides in improving the reach of the Summer Nutrition Programs, but it does require all hands -- federal, state, and local agencies and nonprofits -- on deck to make it happen,” said Weill. “This is an encouraging start, and summer 2014 should yield even bigger gains for children and for communities.”

About the report: The Food Research and Action Center’s annual summer report,Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation, gives data for all states and looks at national trends. The report measures participation in the Summer Nutrition Programs by comparing the number of children receiving summer meals to the number of children receiving school lunch during the regular school year. The regular school year is used as a measure because such a high proportion of low-income children eat school lunch on regular school days. FRAC measures national summer participation during the month of July, when typically all children are out of school throughout the month and lose access to regular year school meals. The report is available online atwww.frac.org.

# # #

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) is the lead advocacy organization working to end hunger in America through stronger public policies. For more information, visit www.frac.org. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/foodresearchandactioncenter or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/fractweets.

---

About Us: The Food Research and Action Center (www.frac.org) is the leading national organization working for more effective public and private policies to eradicate domestic hunger and undernutrition. Visit our Web site (www.frac.org) to learn more.