Apply for the Summer Meals for Kids Grant (Form Package 412) by Thursday, April 21 at 4 pm PT. 

The Washington State legislature has provided $247,500 for the Summer Meals For Kids grant. This is a competitive grant for Summer Food Service Program sponsors. 

These funds may be used to:

• Start new summer meal programs.
• Expand the number of sites participating in the summer meal programs and/or the reach of a site through a meal delivery program.
• Increase the number of meals served in existing programs and sites.
• Begin or expand promotion and outreach for a SFSP – including Washington's Farm-to-Summer Week (July 11–15, 2022).
• Provide training to staff and volunteers for operation of new equipment, outreach activities, etc.
• Improve meal quality, equipment, or small supplies used in the program.

Special emphasis for summer 2022 is:

• Starting a new SFSP;
• Expanding an existing program;
• Programs operating in a rural area (as defined by USDA); and/or
• Programs that never received a grant from OSPI CNS in the past.

Here are some ideas from previous applications:

• Marketing materials such as vehicle wraps, billboard space, sandwich boards, or printing of marketing materials (i.e. stickers, door hangers, etc.);
• Meal delivery vans/busses/food trucks;
• Portable plug-in coolers;
• Portable hand-washing stations;
• Gardening equipment and supplies for meal site gardens that are used to provide food to program and/or support nutrition education activities.

These grants are available to all sponsors. If you do not have an EDS or iGrants account, you must create one - get started early!

• Use this link to create an account with EDS.
  • If you are not a certified teacher, you do not need to complete the second box.
  • Fill in all required sections, you will receive a confirmation email. Make sure to complete the verification process.
• After creating your EDS account, you must get iGrants access. Email CustomerSupport@k12.wa.us with the following information:
  •  Your first and last name
  • Your email address
  • Legal name of your organization
  • Street address of your organization
  • City
  • State
  • Zip
  • Business phone (with area code)

NOTE: It may take up to 48 hours for Customer Support to respond to your request. Please plan accordingly.

Questions? Please email the CNS Grants team.

The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Application for School Year 2022–23 is now available!

The FFVP provides a fresh fruit or vegetable snack to elementary school students and is an effective and creative way to introduce fresh produce as a healthy snack option. 

Funds are awarded to the highest free and reduced-price (FRP) percentage elementary schools. We invite all schools that meet the eligibility requirements to apply for this program.

There are two requirements for eligibility:

1. 50% or more of the students enrolled in the school must be eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
2. The school must meet the definition of an elementary school; Pre-K/Kindergarten through grade 5 or a variation or, Pre-K/Kindergarten through grade 8.

OSPI Child Nutrition Services will be releasing an application bulletin in the coming weeks. The application deadline for participation for school year 2022–23 is April 30, 2022. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

Application Process

Your application will be submitted using the Washington Integrated Nutrition System (WINS). You can review the Applying for FFVP Using WINS recorded training to better understand this process. 

Questions? Please email Rachel Floyd or call 360-742-4155.

May will be the last delivery month for this year and September will be the next available delivery. Please consider your USDA Foods needs when planning your orders.  

May orders open Wednesday, April 6, and will close Wednesday, April 13 at 4 pm.

Surplus orders open Thursday, April 14 at 1pm for groups 1–3, and 2 pm for all other groups. Surplus closes Friday, April 15, at 4 pm.

For more information on your group number, please review the SY 21–22 Order and Delivery Schedule. 

Ordering

• To place an order - log-in to CNP Web.  
• Your Food Distribution Application must be completed (including certified and submitted) before you can place an order.
•  Ordering Instructions
• Reminder:
• New Fees - Delivery Fee Schedule for SY 21–22.
• Minimum 15 cases per warehouse (dry vs frozen).
• Due to increased labor and production cost, several processors issued price increases starting in the November order period. Please review the 10/11 W-Code Price Increase Article for more details.

The Ordering and Receiving webpage has multiple resources to assist you in placing your ordering including; instructions, order and distribution schedule.

Important Reminders

• Confirmation of USDA Foods  If you’re scheduled to receive a USDA Foods Delivery, you should receive an appointment confirmation from the carrier. Please remember to reply to the carrier confirming receipt of appointment.
• Deliveries
• To update or change your delivery contact person, please complete the Delivery Updates Form.
• Standard USDA food deliveries are wrapped and stacked on pallets no higher than approximately five feet and left at your loading dock for you to remove.
• Carriers will drop pallets at dock or just inside the threshold of your facility if the entrance can accommodate. Any request for removal of product from the pallet or asking the driver to enter the facility will require additional cost and must be arranged in advance.
• If there are delivery discrepancies or damages, you may return those cases with the driver.

Questions? Please email the Food Distribution Inbox.