Interested in receiving meals for your summer program?

Facts:
The Summer Food Service Program provides nutritious meals to children when school closes and is designed to bridge the summer vacation “nutrition gap.”  Approximately 27% of children in Montgomery County or 37, 640 students are eligible for free or reduced meals during the school year.  The Summer Food Service Program feeds an average of 6,000 – 7,000 children each day at 105 sites throughout the county.  Increasing the number of sites providing the summer food program would help to reach more eligible children in Montgomery County!


Background:
The Summer Food Service Program was created in 1976 to ensure that children in lower income areas could continue to receive nutritious meals during the summer months when school breakfast and lunches are not available.  The program provides breakfast and lunch to eligible children and teenagers, 18 years and younger, at approved sites.  Persons over 18 years of age who have been determined mentally or physically handicapped and who participate in a public or private non-profit school program for the handicapped during the school year are eligible to receive meal benefits.


Site Qualification:
To qualify for the program, sites must meet certain criteria and comply with specific conditions as follows:

• Meet  requirements for meal

  FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Division of Food & Nutrition Services 301-840-8170 E-mail: SummerFoodProgram@mcpsmd.org

  
  service preparation, distribution
  and accountability
• Have proper capacity and logistics
  for those enrolled
• Offer educational, cultural and/or recreational activities
• Provide supervision, meal service monitoring and training to site staff
• Maintain proper health and sanitary
  conditions
• Keep daily records and issue periodic
  reports
  

Once these conditions are satisfied, eligibility to participate in the Summer Food Service Program is determined by geographic or enrollment data.  At least 50% of the children who live in the area from which the site draws its attendance must be eligible for free or reduced price meals in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, or at least 50% of the enrolled children at the site must have the same eligibility.  Geographic eligibility is documented by using school or census tract data.  Once a site is qualified to participate in the Summer Food Service Program, all children at the site are eligible to receive meals at no cost!

Participation Data:
During the summer of 2008, 105 sites provided the summer meals program.  In addition to Montgomery County Public School summer school sites, there were many community based sites including the City of Gaithersburg, City of Rockville, Montgomery County Recreation Department, Housing, daycare and church based locations.

For more information, contact the Division of Food and Nutrition Services 301-840-8170. 

Updated March 2009| Maintained by Webmaster