San Diego Unified School District: Summer Meal Case Study

San Diego Unified School District

Food Services Department

Summer Fun Café

Planning, Organizing, Marketing and Launch (Kick-off)

SDUSD became a sponsor in the Summer Food Service Program in 2004 with 16 park locations and served 11,000 meals.  In 2009, we had 44 schools and 23 recreation centers in our program and served 250,000 meals and snacks.

Below is a brief summary of what is done to prepare for the Summer Fun Café program.

Underlined words indicated materials are available in the SDUSD Summer Meal Tool Box.

Planning

• The summer lunch program process starts early in the calendar year with a planning meeting within the Food Services Department to talk about overall scope and direction of the programs.   Follow-up meetings are held to plan more detailed activities, such as the kickoff event and training.
• We contact the City of San Diego Park and Recreation Department to determine their level of participation.  A memorandum of understanding is needed to solidify the agreement.  Because of city budget issues, they often do not know until late May which centers are going to be open or whether staffing will be available to accept deliveries or serve the food.
• Similarly, the school district does not know until late May which schools will be open for summer school.  As state budgets get tighter and tighter, fewer schools will be open.
• A letter is sent to school principals, inviting them to take part in the program while their school is open for summer school.  It is beneficial because they do not have to issue new PIN numbers to students who come from other schools as usually happens for summer schools.  Some principals do not want the outside community coming onto their campus and decline the program. Contacting principals can be a confusing process because principals are reassigned during the summer.
• Menus are developed for the summer programs.  The menu served in the schools is slightly different than the one served at the parks.  All follow USDA guidelines.  Hot food will be added to the menu in 2010.
• As part of our planning process, we develop plans for CDE-required site visits.

Organizing

• Information sheets are received from the Park and Rec. Department giving details of participating sites, dates, times, contact personnel and contact numbers. (Cell phone numbers are needed for delivery issues).
• Summer lunch banners are ordered as early as possible because they often take several weeks to receive.  Banners are sent to all locations that participate.  Schools are asked to put the program information on their school’s marquis and in bulletins and announcements.  Park sites and schools are asked that banners be posted in a prominent location facing the public access.  Banners are also ordered for the BBQ events.
• Park and Rec. Center Directors are scheduled to attend a training session at the Food Services main office to go over details of the program.  The FAQ sheet they are given covers recording and reporting, adjusting numbers, food delivery, safety and sanitation.  They also pick up posters, flyers and banners.
• A spreadsheet is developed that includes all summer meal programs - at parks, schools and other sites.  Since we have year-round school in some areas, start times for the park programs vary.
• Assessments are made of equipment and staffing.  CDE grants initially funded the milk coolers for the parks, the telephone calling system, the barbecues and other equipment.  For three years, it also covered the marketing materials including banners, posters and flyers.  During the summer only a few of our production kitchens remain open and they are staffed to accommodate additional meal volume.  A summer meal manager is designated.  Food is prepared and delivered to each site in insulated containers.  Milk is delivered directly to each site.  The lunches are distributed to children by park staff.
• Planning for staff needed to complete required USDA paperwork.

Marketing

• The Summer Lunch Marketing Committee is reconvened around March/April.  Key members include the Park & Recreation Department, Hunger Coalition, Network for a Healthy California, The Food Bank, SAY San Diego, County of San Diego Department of Health and Human Services - Nutrition Services Division, the Mexican Consulate, San Diego Gas & Electric and others.
• Flyers and posters have been designed for the summer program and the kickoff barbecue event.  A new name and logo was developed for the summer program.  We now call the program Summer Fun Café. All materials were printed in English and Spanish.   Posters were printed in color.  Flyers were printed with black ink on pastel paper.   Posters were sent to all schools in areas around Summer Fun Café sites and principals were asked to post them and send messages in their school newsletters.
• The June KC News (Kid’s Choice Café is the name of our elementary program; this is a newsletter that goes home with 65,000 students every month) is devoted to the Summer Fun Café program and kick-off event.
• Besides the members of the Marketing Committee, there are many community and social services groups in the area who assist us by distributing our flyers and by using their existing communication channels to get information to the community.  They also help plan and implement the kickoff event.  For example, the WIC program gives a flyer to every person who receives WIC assistance.
• Flyers are sent to local libraries with a letter that briefly explains the program and requests that the flyers be placed in their community resource area.
• Flyers and posters are given to participating Park and Rec. centers.  The center directors give them to people who come to the park, post them at their sites and take them around to business and apartment complexes nearby.
• Flyers are sent to local daycare centers and sent electronically to various councils of churches, community health clinics, military newsletters and newspapers and to any group that requests them.
• The SDUSD superintendent sends a robo call on the district’s Connect Ed system to families inviting participation in the program.  Notices are put in the SDUSD communications bulletins: Newsline and Friday Notes.

Launch - Kickoff Event

• The BBQ kickoff event is designed to draw media attention to the program.  In
• 2009 we had 3 print media, 5 television stations and 3 radio stations.  Press releases were sent through our district’s Communications Department.  It is held during the first week of the program usually on a Wednesday.
• We served 1321 meals at the 2009 kickoff event.
• VIPs were invited, ranging from school board members and the superintendent to city council members, the mayor and congress and assembly members.  Our board president attended as did several other dignitaries or their representatives.  But since children do not really get excited about dignitaries, we also invited a San Diego Charger to be our Master of Ceremonies.  One year we had an Olympic athlete from the Olympic Training Center moderate the event.
• Volunteers in fruit and vegetable costumes roamed the event giving high-fives.
• There were two large barbecues set up, and hamburgers and hot dogs were served with all the toppings.  Vegetarian burgers were also offered.  There were three salad bars loaded with toppings, plus watermelon and water and milk.
• The kickoff BBQ event brought together many key partners who brought invaluable assets, expertise and visibility to make the event a success.   And since many hands make a lighter load, it made the kick-off event a fairly easy process.
  • SD Park and Rec. supplied an inflatable jumper and craft tables.  They also provided the location, trash cans, 10×10 pop-up canopies for booths, tables, chairs, sound system, set-up, clean-up and personnel.
  • The Food Bank gave bags of food to attendees and set up Food Stamp pre-screening tables.  This proved to be a big draw for families.  We coordinated press releases with their public relations department and shared the spotlight with the media.  The Food Bank also contacted their “Community Care Partners” to have them set up booths offering a wide range of programs.  We had 15 different booths.
  • Network for a Healthy California organized and implemented a Nutrition Decathlon (cucumber toss, melon weight-lifting, etc.). Kids loved these activities.  Prizes were supplied by a combination of SDUSD Food Services and Network for a Healthy California.  When children finished all ten stations, they receive a prize.  The “Network” arranged for volunteers from Volunteer San Diego.
  • San Diego Charger Matt Wilhelm (he has since been traded) served as our Master of Ceremonies.  He spoke to the attendees and encouraged them to eat right and be active.  He signed autographs, handed out some food with the Food Bank, and spent a lot of time with the kids.
  • Clear Channel Communications radio stations 92.5 and Z90 donated air time for our announcements and also provided DJs and activity people for the event.
  • Mission Federal Credit Union assisted with printing costs and had a booth.
  • We also received cash donations:  San Diego Gas and Electric underwrote the cost of adult meals at the kick-off event so all attendees could eat for free.  They also had a booth and highlighted their discounted programs for low-income families; The First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego donated one week’s offering ($1900) for general program support.  It covered the cost of buses sent to surrounding parks to transport children to the kick-off BBQ and the cost of posters and flyers.  Our vendors donated supplies including food for the kick-off event and helium for the balloons.
• Other organizations provided active support for the Summer Fun Café program:  the 211 Help line provided referrals to community members; the Mexican Consulate also had an information call-line; the International Rescue Committee arranged to have the kick-off flyer translated into Arabic and Somali.  The school district translation department did the Spanish and Vietnamese.
• One BBQ event and one Domino’s Pizza Day were planned for every park site.  Both proved to be very popular events and increased participation significantly.  At each BBQ event, the Food Bank also gave away food and set up Food Stamp pre-screening.   The Network for a Healthy California arranged a mini version of the decathlon at each BBQ event.  Separate flyers and posters were made for each of these special days at each park.  This summer, we will be adding a Mexican Fiesta Day at each park site.
• The kickoff event is getting bigger and more complicated every year. HOWEVER, because there are so many groups coming together to get the job done, it has become a fairly easy process.  In 2009, the marketing committee only met once - at the site of the kickoff event right before the event to map out spaces for each activity.  All the rest of the planning was done by phone and email.

Lessons learned

• Community partners are key.  Working with the City of San Diego Department of Park and Recreation has been a very positive experience.  The impact of a comprehensive marketing effort that involves community partnerships is significant to the success of the program.
• There is a large draw on special event days.  (BBQs, Pizza Days).  Activities that draw parents like the Food Stamp pre-screening and Food Bank giveaways increase participation.
• Be prepared.  The press needs information.  Get it ready ahead of time and have informed spokespeople ready.
• Increased volume is good but it means additional staffing, equipment and paperwork.