Feed Your Brain Project Increases Access to Summer Feeding Programs

The Feed Your Brain project provides resources to high-poverty, rural communities in Washington State to support programs that ensure low-income children eat healthy food and stay engaged in literacy and academic enrichment activities during the summer months. Many children in these communities experience hunger in periods when they do not have access to the free school lunch programs.

Feed Your Brain program sites are required to sponsor open sites through the USDA/OSPI Summer Feeding Program and receive grants and technical assistance to support literacy and academic enrichment activities. In 2007, 17 grantees across the state participated in the program and provided meals to an average of 950 children each day. The program is now accepting applications for summer 2008. (See Funding Announcement Below)

By linking summer meal programs and academic enrichment activities, Feed Your Brain aims to increase awareness of the meal programs and encourage families to participate. Program sites receive assistance with developing outreach strategies to reach more families. Expanding access to the Summer Feeding Program by encouraging new sites to apply to become an open site under the Summer Food Service Program through the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Target Audience: Children in high-poverty, rural communities

Partners: Children's Alliance, School's Out Washington and the Discuren Charitable Foundation

For More Information:

• Feed Your Brain: School's Out Washington Web Site
• Summer Feeding Programs: OSPI Child Nutrition Program Web Site

Funding Opportunity
2008 Feed Your Brain Grants

The goals of the Feed Your Brain project are to increase participation in the summer food program and expand and enhance literacy activities for school-aged children in rural areas of Washington State. Grants of up to $4,000 are available to rural programs to provide literacy and academic enrichment activities during the summer months.

In order to be eligible for a grant, programs must meet the following criteria: operate in a rural community in Washington; meet at least 3 times a week for 4 or more weeks in the summer; provide at least 1.5 hours of literacy activities each time that the program meets; and sponsor an open site under the Summer Food Service Program. 

Application Deadline: Applications for the Feed Your Brain grant must be postmarked by Friday, April 4, 2008.  Grants will be awarded in early May.

More Information & Application: Feed Your Brain 2008 Grant Announcement

Continued Growth in Reduced-Price School Meal Participation

In the 2006-2007 school year, Washington became the first state in the country to eliminate the co-pay for reduced-price breakfast. The State provided funds in its 2007-2009 budget to continue the reduced-price breakfast co-pay elimination and added $3.6 million to expand the program to include elimination of the $.40 lunch co-pay for students in grades K-3.

Eliminating the reduced-price breakfast co-pay for eligible students was associated with a 36% increase in participation. The number of reduced-price breakfasts served increased by more than 1,270,000 between 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. In the 6 years prior to 2006-2007, the number of reduced-priced breakfasts served increased by an average of less than 150,000 per year.

Elimination of the reduced-price lunch co-pay for grades K-3 began in fall 2007. Preliminary data from a small sample of districts (n=29) show a 16.3% increase in reduced-price school lunch participation by K-3 students comparing fall 2007 to the same period in 2006. In these 29 districts, 11,071 more meals were served to K-3 students between September and November 2007.

Target Audience: Students eligible for reduced-price meals in Washington

Evaluation: Participation in free, reduced-price, and full-priced school breakfast and lunch programs will continue to be monitored.

For More Information:
George Sneller, Director
Child Nutrition Services
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction