Summer Food Service Program

Each summer, children wait for the last bell of the school year. Summer is an exciting time for children to enjoy playtime with friends, a week at camp, a family vacation, or time at the pool. But for many children who receive free and reduced-price meals at school, summer can mean hunger. Just as...

Increasing participation in the Summer Food Service Program isn’t always easy. There are no silver bullets or magic spells. Being successful also doesn’t require fancy outreach materials that break the bank. The secret, according to the Food Bank of Delaware, is hard work and creativity.

The winds of winter may still be blowing where you live, but it is already time to start thinking about the summer. When school is finished, over 20 million children who receive free or reduced-price lunch during the school year through USDA’s National School Lunch Program will be in trouble. Less...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: The two most direct ways to get involved in the Summer Food Service Program in your community are to either become a sponsor or a feeding site. What’s the difference you may ask? Being a sponsor means acting as the organizer for Summer Food Service sites...

Each summer, 22.3 million students are at risk of going hungry when the school year ends and school lunches are no longer available. For many children, school meals are the only complete and nutritious meals they eat, and in the summer they go without. The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) can help...

I never tire of meeting the organizations and individuals across our great country that help feed hungry children. In late January, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown teamed up with the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks to hold a summit on preventing child...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: Summer Food Service Program – in the middle of winter? That question is a common one when we talk about the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). During the school year, many children receive free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch through the School...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! Blog: I recently visited the Willie Mays Boys and Girls Club to find out from the children what participating in USDA's Summer Food Service Program means to them. Year-round, afternoons at the Club means the children get to cook a healthy bean and kale soup, with...

In early October, USDA’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships was honored to host a dozen Latino faith leaders to our “Tuve Hambre y Me Diste de Comer” (“For I was Hungry and You Fed Me”) consultation on improving Latino outreach. USDA studies show that 1 out of 4 Hispanic households...

On October 4, fellow USDA Food and Nutrition Service staffer Julie Mikkelson and I attended the Minnesota Vikings annual Taste of the NFL bash at Minneapolis’ Mall of America. This enormously popular charity event funds feeding efforts operated by Second Harvest Heartland, the Upper Midwest’s...