The New Jersey Department of Agriculture is encouraging organizations to help provide nutritious meals to children during the summer months through its Summer Food Service Program, according to a news release.
The federally-funded program reimburses participating organizations for meals served to children who live in areas in which at least 50% of the children qualify for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program.
Applicants may include public or private nonprofit school food authorities, units of local, municipal, county or state governments, public or private nonprofit organizations, residential summer camps or national youth sports programs.
Organizations approved to sponsor the Summer Food Service Program are responsible for managing the sites that provide the meals to young children.
Most participating organizations may be reimbursed for up to two meals a day. Meals may also be reimbursed for nights and weekends. Those serving primarily migrant children may be reimbursed for up to three meals a day.
Residential camps may serve up to three meals a day but are reimbursed only for meals served to children eligible for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program.
In school year 2020-2021 in New Jersey, 609 school food authorities with 1,835 sites participated in the National School Lunch Program’s Seamless Summer Option to provide over 74.5 million lunches and 68.3 million breakfasts free to all children 18 and under. In 2021, 151 organizations participated in the Summer Food Service Program, serving 75,875,999 nutritious meals, which included breakfast, lunches, dinners and snacks to over 1,308 summer meal sites.
The deadline for submission of completed applications is March 21, 2022. Learn more about the New Jersey Summer Food Service Program.
For more information on the Summer Food Service Program or to obtain an application, call 609-292-4498.