Exceptional Circumstances Waiver for Non-Congregate Meal Service

"The wildfires in Washington State are causing hardships everywhere.  Some of those hardships may qualify a Summer Meals site for an exceptional circumstances request so that children may consume meals off-site for a specified period of time.  If approved, the child would still go to the site, but would receive a complete meal and then leave to go to a safe place to consume the meal.

USDA has provided sponsors experiencing exceptional circumstances the opportunity to request a waiver for non-congregate meal service, based on confirmed information.   Confirmed information must come from a recognized creditable resource, such as the National Weather Service (NWS).   In additional to providing weather reports, the NWS also provides warnings and outlooks (http://www.weather.gov/).  If you have one or more sites that you think might qualify for a non-congregate meal service waiver, please refer to the document below for instructions to submit a request."

Please contact Jennifer Mitchell if you need further guidance:

Jennifer Mitchell MS, RD

Summer Food and Special Projects Supervisor

(360) 725-6056 Office

(360) 664-9397 Fax

SummerFood Programs Website

Instruction on How to Submit a Waiver Request