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Free Lunch?
During the school year, about 16 million
children receive a free or reduced-price
lunch at school through the National
School Lunch Program. However, when the
school doors close for the summer, only
about 20 percent (3.3 million children)
receive meals in the summer. We need
your help reaching children that may
be missing meals or eating less nutritious
food when school is out.
The US Department of Agriculture's
Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) reimburses
organizations that provide meals to children
during the summer months. Residential
summer camps and nonresidential day camps
that offer nutritious meals as part of
an organized camping program may be reimbursed
for up to three meals or two meals and
one snack per day served to children that
meet income eligibility criteria.
Eligible children are those whose household
income is at or below 185% of the Federal
poverty guidelines—$37,000 for a
family of four in 2006. It's not
too late to sign up for this summer.
Organizations interested in learning more
about SFSP and how to apply should contact
the State agency that administers the program
locally. Contact information can be found
at www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/summer (click
on "Contacts").
Grants for Agricultural Programs
If your camp grows and sells food, you
might want to check out the Farmers
Market Resource Guide, which lists
grant opportunities and other interesting
information about community-based agricultural
programs.
Bridge . . . . A Camp Programming Idea?
A
competitive sport for the mind . . . . For
nonsports-minded campers, the game teaches
lessons other children gain from playing
sports: sportsmanship, team playing, ethics,
handling the pressure of competition, and
developing strategies. Television programs
such as Celebrity Poker Showdown have proven
that card playing is increasing in popularity and
can be cool! For more information about introducing
Bridge as a rainy-day activity, visit www.bridgeiscool.com.
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