Two reports released last week show that despite a modestly improving economy and nationwide efforts to increase participation in federal meal programs, childhood hunger remains a problem.

The reports were released by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) and Feeding America, two major anti-hunger advocacy organizations, just in time for Summer Food Service Week. Participation in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) increased slightly last summer, but not enough to reverse three years of declining participation. According to the FRAC report, Hunger Doesnt Take a Vacation, program participation increased for the first time since 2008, with 2.8 million children participating in the program on an average July weekday. Last July, 13,000 more children participated in the program than in July 2011. While the increase is encouraging, it is not enough to reverse three years of declines. In summer 2012, 99,000 fewer children were participating in than in 2008. Hunger Doesnt Take a Vacation 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 school year.

From Alabama to Washington state and places in between, afterschool programs are embracing the USDA Child and Adult Care Feeding Program’s (CACFP) At-Risk Afterschool Meals program. This spring, hundreds of afterschool programs are providing nutritious meals at no cost to those children who need them most. With summer around the corner, providers are also taking part in the Summer Food Service Program to ensure young people have the nourishment they need when school is out. Here are a few examples from around the country:

• In Huntsville, Alabama, and the surrounding area, children will be able to receive three meals per weekday during the summer as part of Huntsville City Schools’ new Summer Feeding Program. Young people under the age of 18 will be able to enjoy up to three meals per day at no cost at 10 area schools through the Summer Food Service Program. Summer learning programs will be offered at most of the schools allowing students to nourish both minds and bodies.
• The Albuquerque Journal recently reported on a number of schools in Albuquerque, New Mexico, including Kirtland Elementary School, that started serving a meal as part of their afterschool program.   

With the sequester now in effect, 3,400 AmeriCorps positions are expected to be cut.  A recent story in the Baltimore Sun illustrates the concern that many afterschool providers have about the implications these cuts might have for their programs.  At the Mother Seton Academy, a school for low-income children in Baltimore, AmeriCorps members serve in a number of vital roles, including helping out the afterschool program.  As the school faces budget constraints and teachers are overworked, AmeriCorps members expand the capacity for schools and nonprofits to serve. 

During a time of budget cuts, AmeriCorps members make all the difference in overcrowded classrooms, afterschool programs that keep kids safe or in tutoring programs that lower dropout rates.  A recent blog post on Service Nation argues that the small living stipend offered to AmeriCorps members costs the country far less than the price of a teenager who drops out of school.  With the wide range of services that AmeriCorps members offer, cuts to the program will undoubtedly have a large impact.  

AmeriCorps currently engages more than 75,000 men and women at more than 15,000 locations including nonprofits, schools, public agencies, and community- and faith-based groups across the country.  During their year of service, AmeriCorps members help communities with a wide range of issues including disaster services, economic opportunity, education and healthy futures. 

1. The Safeway Foundation is partnering with Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland to develop community- and clinic-based programs designed to reduce the burden of childhood obesity.  The program seeks to fund nonprofit organizations with innovative programs to address childhood obesity.  The goals of the program are to empower innovative programs to expand and enhance services, increase capacity, and/or incorporate new strategies to support healthy body weights among children and/or adolescents; evaluate the impact of existing programs; and identify promising approaches that could be replicated, adapted, and implemented in diverse communities nationwide.  Applicants must be 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, or have a fiscal sponsor that is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  The applicant does not have to be affiliated with a healthcare facility or clinic.  Applicants must be based within 10 miles of a Safeway store (with some flexibility for regions with low-density stores).  Proposed programs must use an inter-disciplinary model that includes at least one partnership with a community, clinic, business, and/or school.  Initially, the Safeway Foundation is committing $2 million to support about 15 one-year awards. The amounts awarded may range from $3,000 to a maximum of $100,000 depending on the specific needs of the project.  The majority of awards will be within the range of $40,000 to $75,000.  The complete Request for Proposals and the online application form are available at the Safeway Foundation website.  Applications are due May 15, 2013.
2. Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK) recently extended the deadline to May 3, 2013, for their School Grants for Healthy Kids for the 2013-2014 school year.  Around 400 schools will be awarded funds that will range from $1,000 to $5,000 with significant in-kind contributions from AFHK in the form of people, programs, and school breakfast and physical activity expertise.  AFHK will also provide schools with management expertise and support to develop strong alternative and universal breakfast or physical activity programs.  Award amounts will be based on building enrollment, project type, potential impact, and a school's ability to mobilize parents and students around school wellness initiatives.  Grants are available in select states.  Note only schools are eligible to apply.  The Physical Activity grants provide funding for facilities and equipment for recess, playgrounds/play-spaces, classroom energizers, physical education, intramural and/or before- and afterschool programs that introduce underserved youth populations to the value of an active lifestyle.  Learn more through Action For Healthy Kids.

As summer learning program providers gear up for the summer months, now is the time to finalize arrangements for offering summer meals to participating children. The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides at least one healthy meal at no cost to children who rely on free and reduced price school meals during the academic year.  While the SFSP reaches many eligible children, the need is much greater.  During summer 2011, only 1 in 7 children who were eligible for free or reduced price school lunches participated in the SFSP.

In an effort to better understand how summer learning providers feed participating children, please complete a short summer food survey, available here. The survey closes April 30, and findings will be made available this summer.

It's not too late to learn how to become a Summer Food Service Program sponsor or site.