Redwood Empire Food Bank: Summer Meal Case Study

The Redwood Empire Food Bank: Every Child, Every Day Summer Hunger Initiative 2004-2009

Click here to access the REFP Sumer Meal Tool Box.

Our mission is to end hunger in our community.  The Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB) was established in 1987 to improve the lives of people living with hunger in Sonoma County. Through a vigorous network of partners and volunteers combined with a dedicated staff and committed Board of Directors, the REFB provides food to over 70,000 low-income people each month.

During the school year, over 26,000 children in Sonoma County receive Free or Reduced Price school meals (FPR).  When the summer recess begins, these low-income children are in need of the meals they depend on during the school year.

In 2004, REFB recognized the detrimental gap that the summer months create for vulnerable, low-income children to access nutritious meals.  That is when the REFB began utilizing its large network of partners and volunteers to organize non-profit, community-based Free Summer Lunch locations throughout Sonoma County and coordinate the delivery of meals from school district kitchens to the sites.

Each year we’ve stepped up to a new level of commitment and each year has presented new challenges.  We’ve used these yearly changes as opportunities to refine the program.

• 2004 - 13 sites 15,115 meals (we facilitated the sites but did not sponsor or vend)
• 2005 - 31 sites 45,773 meals (we shared sponsorship with Migrant Ed & Schools)
• 2006 - 29 sites 40,191 meals (we sponsored all sites for the first time)
• 2007 - 37 sites 53,309 meals (first time adding breakfast to the mix)
• 2008 - 37 sites 54,125 meals (focused on offering activities at all sites)
• 2009 - 35 sites 75,824 meals (outreach and activities high priority)

Each summer, the Every Child, Every Day Summer Hunger Initiative begins as a new program. What follows is a brief description of how the REFB organizes its summer lunch program.

We begin with the food vendors
Every year, our first organizational meeting in late January is with our vending partners to discuss the challenges of the previous year, create solutions for this year and outline plans and possibilities for the next summer.

We are fortunate to have a good working relationship with our school district kitchens which abide by USDA standards as well as state and local requirements.  We partner (vend) with Santa Rosa City Schools, Healdsburg Unified School District, Rohnert Park/Cotati School District, and Cloverdale Unified School District. Contracting with your local school district kitchen eliminates the need to put the vending contract out to bid. It also helps encourage and financially support school district kitchens to stay open during the summer and open sites at summer schools and/or other high-need schools in the community. The REFB negotiates an equitable rate and pays for every meal delivered to a site (versus every meal reimbursed).

Lesson learned: It is crucial to have an open line of communication with your vendors. We discuss changes to the number of meals ordered each day as well as any issues that arise.  The REFB orders meals (via trackable fax) for the next day after sites have reported their daily meal count.  Keeping tabs on daily meal counts with the site as well as the kitchen cuts down on waste due to continuously fluctuating numbers and alerts us to any potential problem areas.

The kitchens prepare hot or cold meals, depending on site preferences.  We have found that the majority of sites prefer hot meals which normally provide a wider variety of menu options.  REFB also offers auxiliary meals to sites that have access to a refrigerator, freezer and microwave to keep on hand if more children arrive than anticipated.  Auxiliary meals are another way that the REFB attempts to control over-ordering and subsequent waste. Having auxiliary meals on hand assures site leaders that enough meals are always available if more children show up.  Each year, over ordering and wasted food are high priority topics.

Partnering kitchens have also made it possible for appropriate sites to offer breakfast.  This option is utilized by organizations that conduct full day programs. A cold breakfast for the next day is delivered with the hot lunch.

Delivery
Our vending kitchens deliver to the majority of our sites. We ask smaller sites (25 children and under) to pick up their meals directly from the kitchen.  To assist the kitchens, we organize volunteer delivery routes to a number of central sites as well as outlying sites that could not be served without a volunteer delivery.  Volunteer drivers are recruited, approved by our insurance company and assigned a route with directions and times. Most volunteers use their own vehicles but a food bank van is also available. Hot food and cold food is packed in large insulated bags making this possible.

Site Development & Partnerships
Over the course of the first three years, the REFB worked hard to gradually develop sites with local partners in order to cover all the areas of need in our community. For the past 3 years, we have been relatively consistent with the number of sites (35-37), however, not all those sites are necessary the same. Each year specific sites and partnerships change depending on their funding and organizational health.  Our most consistent partners have been Community Housing Complexes, Recreation and Parks programs, and Boys and Girls Clubs. We also work with church summer programs and member agencies that serve children over the summer as well as establishing volunteer run sites in areas where children are known to congregate. We are always looking for new opportunities to create new partnerships.

Our first step in assembling sites is to assess sites that are returning from the previous year.  All sites are asked to fill out a questionnaire to clarify goals, identify issues from previous years, establish serving times, dates of operation, volunteer needs, etc.   We often set up early-in-the year meetings with our multiple-site partners to discuss areas of concern and opportunities for improvement.

Next, we explore areas that lack community resources and are high need areas.  Each year it is a priority to expand our service area to reach a greater number of children.

Lesson learned: we have learned from experience that piecing together a site with numerous volunteers but no core program is difficult and not always successful. It also leaves volunteers feeling negative and unsatisfied about their experience.  We prefer to focus on strengthening sites that were previously successful and not spend a lot of time “forcing” a site to come together.

It is also important that staff, management, site leaders and volunteers are all on board and understand why this program is important to the children, the families and the community as a whole. Our second large organizational meeting brings together all of our partners, vendors and volunteers to reinforce our objectives and bolster enthusiasm.

Site Qualification
Sites must qualify under state regulations.  We qualify sites by identifying the closest elementary school to the site location.  If the closest school has 50% or more FRP meals being served, the site is qualified for the Free Summer Lunch Program.  In Sonoma County, many of our low-income housing communities are not located near qualifying schools. Instead, we work with the housing management to determine the income levels of the property, identify the total number of children in the complex and the total number of children that meet the income range for FRP.  If 50% or more of the children in the complex fall into the appropriate income bracket, the complex is qualified as on open site.  Community housing contacts must submit a letter explaining this information.

Lesson learned: California Department of Education (”the state”) has been of great assistance in helping us with site qualification.

Volunteers
Volunteers are essential to our program. Our Summer Lunch Program would not exist without community involvement.  Volunteers help oversee sites, serve prepared food, deliver meals, organize and implement activities. The REFB works with schools, service clubs, faith-based organizations and community groups to recruit volunteers.  Each year, our goal is to spread the word to as many groups, community members and organizations as possible through presentations, flyers and the media in hopes of receiving a sufficient response.

Our volunteers include: parents, corporate groups, community members, businesses, service clubs, churches, youth groups, students from high school and college, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4-H, teachers on summer break, agencies and AmeriCorps. For four summers in a row, JDS Uniphase has supplied a group of volunteers to serve lunch in an adjacent park on their lunch hour.

Anyone interested in volunteering is asked to fill out a questionnaire which assists us in matching up interests and availability with summer lunch site needs and locations, so that ultimate placement is successful and benefits everyone.    We ask volunteers to commit to a consistent block of time, ie. from 4 weeks in a row or the same day every week.

It is helpful to have the list of sites and volunteer jobs prepared when the training sessions occur so volunteers who are unsure can choose a role and a site.  It is best to limit the amount of call backs. We try to place a volunteer quickly, inform them of the essential site information and sign them up for training.  Once that is done, their contact information is passed on to site leaders for additional follow up.

For volunteers interested in guiding activities, we offer different options. They may stay at the same site all summer and develop relationships with the children. They may organize a group of friends who will trade off leading fun events at one or more sites. They may travel around with one activity and visit as many sites as possible. The opportunities and ideas are endless and perfect for a person/or group interested in being creative.

Activities
By offering fun activities combined with creating an enjoyable and safe environment for children to eat healthy, nutritious meals, we have increased the number of meals served each year. The REFB believes that all children need the opportunity to engage with their community in a positive way.

An array of activities have been offered as a means to draw more children to the sites. We feel this is a vital aspect to success and have fund raised to hire a part time activity coordinator just for the summer. We recruit individuals to create arts & crafts projects and physical activities. We ask partnering organizations to present programs like Mighty Mouth which teaches children proper dental hygiene. And we’ve asked community groups like Safe Kids Sonoma County to organize bike rodeos. Surprisingly, Mosquito & Vector Control is one of our most popular kid activities and it’s free of charge.

We supply Activity Kits to all sites that need extra supplies. Arts and Crafts Activity Kits containe paper, color paper, scissors, color pencils, crayons, water colors, tempera paints, paint brushes, bead packs and play dough.  The Book of Records Physical Activity Kit includes hacky sacks, bean bags (for juggling or throwing), jump ropes, cones, and hula hoops.  This pack also containes a whistle, stop watch and a small book for recording children’s times from relays and fun games so they can chart their progress.  Kits help volunteers and site leaders to organize activities.

Lesson learned: It is important to promote activities and special events at the site before the event.  Site contacts and the presenters/visitors are given clear guidelines so everyone is aware of their responsibilities and any special notes about the sites are understood.

Outreach
Each year we utilize a myriad of outreach opportunities.  Our Media Relations Consultant, creates press releases with two needs in mind: a call out for volunteers and publicizing the Free Lunch Sites.  Information and press releases are sent to a list of contacts.  Last summer our contacts consisted of: The Press Democrat, West County Gazette, Russian River Times, The Community Voice, Lazer Radio, Univision TV, KBBF, KRCB Radio News, KRCB Sonoma Spot Light, Sonoma Index Tribune, Sonoma Valley Sun, La Voz, North Bay Business Journal, Cloverdale Reveille, TV 50, The Bohemian, Kenwood Press, Argus Courier, Sonoma West Times and News, Windsor Times, Healdsburg Tribune, KZST, KSRO, and KRSH Radio.

Some of these contacts contribute by printing ads or articles.  They invite us for interviews on various programs or air public service announcements.  We have also posted information in county busses and distributed flyers at the sites and appropriate service offices.  Site information is distributed to referral lines, social workers, health clinics and posted on our website.

We emphasize that volunteers and site coordinators conduct local outreach for individual sites and we disperse general flyers at all REFB food distributions.

Training and Monitoring
As stated in the SFSP manual, it is required that at least one site leader that has been trained must be on the premises.  The REFB conducts 2 formal training meetings prior to the Summer Lunch start date.  This training is mandatory at which time we go through all rules and regulations, review site paperwork including the daily meal count form .  This is also a time to follow up with sites regarding last minute changes and needs.

Lesson learned: Inevitably more training is required especially at our sites with Spanish speaking volunteers. Although we require attendance at the scheduled training, we also have bilingual staff available to go train volunteers at the site.

Monitoring by the sponsor is a mandatory part of the program but more importantly this is a time for REFB staff to follow up with site workers to ensure they understand their duties and that sites are safe and running smoothly.  We train all our executive and administrative staff for monitoring in order to accomplish the monitoring in the time frame required.