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TextLetter to Prospective Meal Site Participants
Dear Friends:
The school lunch program provides a healthy breakfast and lunch for thousands of Fairfax County kids – and the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services (NCS) wants to make sure they continue to be fed when schools close for the summer.
The department is looking for community meal sites to run summer food programs to prevent children from going hungry when school lunchrooms close. Such meal sites were in short supply last year, leaving many communities without a way to distribute the free meals to needy kids. In Fairfax County, we have approximately 44,000 children who qualified for free and reduced meals during the school year. The need for healthy and nutritious meals is much greater this year than in years past.
Some of you have participated in the program and for others, this will be a new opportunity to serve the children of your community. You can have a positive impact on the lives and health of children in your community by being a Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) meal site. The need is there, the food is delivered to meal sites daily, and it is free. The SFSP is a federally funded program administered nationally by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Will you help? We need more locations around the county to serve the children.
The Summer Food Service Program serves nutritious meals to school-age children up to age 18 who qualify for free or reduced price school meals. Sites may be located at schools, community centers, faith-based organizations, apartment complexes, public or private nonprofit summer camps, or local, county or state government agencies. Sites must be approved according to USDA’s guidelines. Meal sites receive free training, technical assistance and assistance with recruiting volunteers to serve the meals. A meal site can participate in the program at any time during the program’s operating cycle, which is June 22 through September 2, 2011. This year, our breakfast and lunch menus will include a variety of hot and cold meals, and vegetarian selections.
To become a meal site this summer, organizations may apply at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/ncs “Free Summer Meals for Kids”. For more information, please contact Brent Quarles at 703-324-5330, TTY 711 or by e-mail at Brent.Quarles@fairfaxcounty.gov.
Sincerely,
Brent Quarles
Brent Quarles
Summer Food Service Program Supervisor
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