The South Dakota Department of Education’s office of Child and Adult Nutrition Services is seeking sponsors for the Summer Food Service Program, a federally-funded program that provides nutritious meals and snacks to children in low-income areas during the summer months. Schools are among those organizations that can apply to be sponsors.

Learn more about this opportunity and sign up for administrative training on the Department of Education’s Summer Food Service Program webpage. The registration form is found under “Trainings – 2018 Summer Training Registration.” For both new and renewing organizations, the registration form is due Feb. 22.

“Many schools across the state sponsor Summer Food Service Program sites, and it would be wonderful to see those numbers continue to grow,” said Julie McCord, program specialist with South Dakota’s Child and Adult Nutrition Services. “This is a great opportunity for community collaboration. Many organizations offer summer programming for kids—summer reading at the local library, for instance. So how about partnering with that local librarian to feed those hungry readers?”

Community organizations, nonprofits, schools, tribal and local governments can apply to be sponsors if they operate in low-income areas, serve a group of mostly low-income children or operate a summer camp with a high proportion of low-income participants. Parks and recreation departments, city and county health departments, libraries and neighborhood service agencies can participate as sites or sponsors.

School food authorities also have the option to utilize the Seamless Summer Option to provide meals in the summer. Information on that option can also be obtained from South Dakota’s Child and Adult Nutrition Services office.

Questions? Call Child and Adult Nutrition Services at 605-773-3413.