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United Way of King County and OSPI are excited to provide high quality marketing materials to Summer Meals Providers and Champions statewide! If you are a sponsor, site, or community partner looking to promote Free Summer Meals in your community, please use this form to request physical outreach materials be mailed to you for FREE!
Promotion at the start of summer is key to maximizing awareness in your community. Take 2 minutes to place an order for FREE yard signs, flyers, stickers, bookmarks, door hangers, and more TODAY to ensure quick delivery!
To advertise and promote Summer Meal Sites, you can provide the following information to your communities:
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Summer Meal Site Finder by Phone: 1-866-3-HUNGRY (1-866-348-6479) or text “Food” to 304-304
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Summer Meal Site Finder by Website: https://www.fns.usda.gov/meals4kids
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Summer Meal Site Finder By Phone (Spanish) : 1-877-8-HAMBRE (1-877-842-6273) or text "Comida" to 304-304
Most calendar revisions require specialist approval. To ensure that site data on the USDA Summer Meal Site Finder Map is up-to-date, sponsors must submit meal service time revisions by 5:00 pm every Friday. This allows sufficient time for your assigned specialist to review and approve any changes, so they are reflected in the updated map the following Thursday. The Summer Meal Site Finder Map is updated weekly throughout the summer.
Please plan accordingly. Specialists may not be able to accommodate late submissions due to being out in the field conducting administrative reviews.
Questions? Please email your assigned SFSP/SSO specialist.
All meals must be served at approved sites during State Agency approved dates and times. If a site has a planned field trip with meal service, please complete the following
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Notify OSPI by close of business day before field trip.
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Ensure:
- There will be a point-of-service meal count.
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Staff taking the meal count have been trained.
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Consider and plan for any food safety issues.
Keep in mind the field trip site is a temporary site and all SFSP rules must be followed. The person taking the meal counts must be trained and that training must be documented.
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All public school districts and private schools must conduct outreach for summer meals each school year as required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) even if your Local Education Agency (LEA) is not operating a summer meal program. |
LEAs must advertise the availability of summer meals before the end of the school year. Outreach information includes distribution locations, mealtimes, and contact information through your regular communication channels.
There are a number of resources in both English and Spanish to raise awareness in your community.
USDA Resources
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- Families can call 1-866-3-HUNGRY (1-866-348-6479)
- For Spanish, families can call 1-877-8-HAMBRE (1-877-842-6273)
- Summer Meals Locator — Promote this tool in English or Spanish.
- USDA National Hunger Hotline — can be reached Monday–Friday
The OSPI Communication Toolkit
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The OSPI Communications Toolkit is located on the SFSP Requirements & Materials webpage, under the ‘Promotional Materials’ dropdown. There you'll find:
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Social Media Graphics and Sample Social Media Posts
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Marketing Materials such as flyers, banner imagery you can use to print materials, and more!
This guidance applies to schools, sponsors, and institutions participating in any Child Nutrition Program, including the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), Special Milk Program (SMP), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), and Seamless Summer Option (SSO), as well as to purchases made for these programs by State agencies.
Beginning July 1, 2024, Sponsors may choose to:
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Use local (e.g., “locally grown”, “locally raised”, or “locally caught”) as a specification (i.e., the written description of a product or service that a vendor must meet to be considered responsive to a solicitation) for local unprocessed agricultural products;
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Use a defined scoring advantage (e.g., additional credit or points given to local unprocessed agricultural products during the evaluation of responses to a solicitation) for local unprocessed agricultural products;
- Adopt a mix of both strategies; or,
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Elect not to use any of these approaches.
USDA is updating existing memoranda, guides, and fact sheets and developing a new fact sheet to help program operators procure local foods using the expanded geographic preference option. These resources will be available on the USDA Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program website at www.fns.usda.gov/f2s/farm-to-school
The awarded funds will help these sponsors increase meal sites and participation, improve meal quality and food safety, expand SFSP promotion, and more!
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Auburn School District
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City of Seattle Child Nutrition Program
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Clarkston School District
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Concerned Citizens for Special Children
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Federal Way Public Schools
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FISH Community Food Bank
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Hoquiam School District
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Hunger Intervention Program
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MultiCare Health System
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North Thurston Public Schools
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Northeast Youth Center
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Pullman School District
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Share, INC Vancouver
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Thurston County Food Bank
Thanks for all you do to support feeding children in our state!
The entire guide may be accessed on the USDA Webpage, at SFSP Administration Guide. Program operators should direct any questions concerning this guidance to OSPI.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is pleased to share the availability of the Turnip the Beet 2024 Nomination Packet. The Turnip the Beet Award recognizes outstanding summer meal program sponsors across the nation who work hard to offer high quality meals to children that are appetizing, appealing, and nutritious during the summer months. Please consider promoting the opportunity to apply for a Turnip the Beet award. More information can be found on the Turnip the Beet webpage.
OSPI and USDA are aware that concerns regarding physical safety at Summer Meal Program sites have increased in recent years, with sponsors indicating a need for additional technical assistance and Program flexibilities in this area. USDA may consider targeted requests for a waiver of the congregate feeding requirement. The safety of sponsors, staff and participants is our priority. If you experience any challenges and/or safety issues during SFSP operations, please reach out to the summer meals team to discuss options.
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The most recent version that you may have is the 2019 “And Justice for All” poster. The 2019 poster was updated to have the USDA building as the image and should say “Revised September 2019” in the bottom left-hand corner. Please continue using the 2019 “And Justice for All” poster in areas where participants will see it.
Need the 2019 Poster? Please contact your OSPI Program Specialist.
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The USDA requires SFSP sponsors to have appropriate arrangements for food service during periods of inclement weather 7 CFR 225.6(g)(1)(viii). Although all outdoor sites are not required to have an alternate temperature-controlled site, sponsors should have a contingency plan for dealing with extreme weather conditions such as thunderstorms, excessive heat, or poor air quality. Options may include:
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Using a tent to provide extra shade on extremely hot days.
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Partnering with a housing community to use an air-conditioned lobby or community room on extremely hot days.
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Discontinuing meal service if safety is a concern.
If safety for staff and families is a concern and you plan to discontinue meal service, or the meal service will take place at an alternate site, plans must be in place for how the community will be notified. Sponsors are encouraged to plan for emergency situations in advance to ensure a rapid response.
If you plan on using a backup site that is not already included in your SFSP application, reach out to the Summer Meals team and request the site be added in WINS. Backup sites must still meet SFSP area-eligibility requirements.
Farm to Summer Week
Summer is coming! If you haven’t already, take the pledge to participate in Farm to Summer Week, July 15–19! Including fresh, local foods on your menu increases meal quality and supports local growers. Nutrition and agriculture enrichment activities have been shown to increase kids’ willingness to try new foods.
We want to hear from you! Is your program willing to share about your Farm to Summer efforts, and be a part of a Farm to Summer Focus Group? If so, please join our zoom call on July 11 at 1:30pm.
Harvest of the Summer
To support sponsors in integrating local foods into your Summer meals, OSPI is excited to feature Harvest of the Summer resource sheets. Each week for the month of July and August we will highlight one local food that will be in season. The resource sheets include fun facts, nutritional information, selection and storage tips, recipe ideas, and educational resources/activities.
For July, we are featuring Spinach, Rhubarb, Raspberries, and Cucumbers. You can find this, and future Harvest of the Summer resource sheets on our Farm to Summer webpage.
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ALL STUDENTS PREPARED FOR POST-SECONDARY PATHWAYS, CAREERS, AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT.
Led by State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, OSPI oversees K-12 public education in Washington state. Our mission is to provide funding, resources, tools, data and technical assistance that enable educators to ensure students succeed in our public schools, are prepared to access post-secondary training and education, and are equipped to thrive in their careers and lives.
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ADA NOTIFICATION FOR OSPI CHILD NUTRITION SERVICES EVENTS
To arrange accommodations for persons with disabilities for OSPI Child Nutrition Services events, please contact the Child Nutrition Services Team at 360-725-6200, TTY 360-664-3631, or by email, child.nutrition@k12.wa.us at least three business days before the event. Please note that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not require OSPI to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services, or impose an undue financial or administrative burden.
This Institution is an Equal Opportunity Provider.
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