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Summer food service program seeks meal sites and sponsors

January 18, 2021

A program that targets children in low-income areas so they have meals during the summer is seeking sponsors and sites for meal distribution.

The summer food service program is a federally funded project operated nationally by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered in Delaware by the Department of Education. Sponsors are reimbursed for all meals served free at approved sites in low-income areas to children age 18 and under.

Units of local government, camps, schools, and private nonprofit organizations are eligible to operate as program sponsors.

Individual sites such as camps, housing complexes, community centers, parks and homes are eligible to operate as program meal sites under a sponsor. The sponsor would prepare and deliver the meals to the site. Some locations may be served by a food truck, depending on availability. An adult would be required to serve as site supervisor and oversee the meals being served.

Children 18 and under may receive free meals and snacks through the program. Meals and snacks also are available to people with disabilities, over age 18, who participate in school programs.

Sponsors and sites will receive training to help them operate successful programs and will have continued support from the Delaware Department of Education throughout the course of the program. All sponsors and sites must agree to serve meals to all children regardless of their race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability.

Eligibility for the summer food service program is based on free- and reduced-lunch data for a school in a particular area. To qualify as an open site that can feed all children, the site must be in an area where 50 percent or more of the children qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Camps and enrolled programs may qualify based on individual income eligibility. For detailed guidelines, call 302-857-3356 or go to doe.k12.de.us and search summer food service program.

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