YMCA of Silicon Valley: Summer Meal Case Study
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The mission of the YMCA is to build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. Health and wellness have been a part of its work since 1890. It was a natural fit for the YMCA to include its institutional knowledge and work in school-age after school programs and summer day camps.
During the months when schools are closed, the YMCA of Silicon Valley Summer Camp programs serve 25,000 youth from the middle of June thru August. The YMCA summer camp programs are a safe place where each participant is inspired to learn, while providing working parents confidence that their youth are safe and supervised.
The YMCA encourages students to make healthy meal and snack choices year round, and reinforces this by participating in the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), both of which provide federal reimbursements.
The federal Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) has helped to support YMCA of Silicon Valley 2009 Summer Camp programs by providing 18,308 nutritious snacks for youth from low-income families and where 50% of the youth enrolled in the nearest school qualify for free and reduced price meals. The reimbursement for SFSP has allowed our organization to serve youth participants the most nutritious snacks possible, providing organic fresh fruit and vegetables daily from local producers. Our organization could not provide these services without the assistance from SFSP.
Since the expansion of the YMCA of Silicon Valley’s after school programs in 2000, the number of youth from low income families attending summer camp programs has tripled. In April of 2009, the YMCA identified seven of their summer camp programs serving 1,650 youth participants weekly that met the criteria for SFSP reimbursements, the YMCA contacted the California Department of Education (CDE) and Nutrition Services Division (NSD) to plan the organization’s next steps in becoming a SFSP sponsor.
Below is a step-by-step description of the actions taken by the YMCA of Silicon Valley to
1) Establish the organization as a sponsor of summer meal programs
2) Conduct outreach to identify and establish sites
3) Successfully operate sites
4) Build participation of families and children
5) Provide nutrition education
1) Establish the organization as a sponsor of summer meal programs:
* The YMCA of Silicon Valley identified the need for the summer meal program in April of 2009. This allowed the organization to have enough time to submit the application as well as complete all necessary SFSP trainings for YMCA camp staff before the program start in June 2009.
* After reviewing the SFSP Program Fact Sheet as well as all administrative guides for the program http://www.cde.ca.gov/Ls/nu/sf/faq.asp, the YMCA contacted SFSP program analyst to talk about the application process.
Lessons Learned: Take the time to read the SFSP program guide prior to participation. This allows for those who are involved to use the correct terminology. Also, note that CDE is incredibly helpful and that they are ready to provide assistance when needed. They truly are invested and want every sponsor to succeed.
2) Conduct outreach to identify and establish sites
* The SFSP program analyst helped the YMCA identify the organization as a closed-enrolled site based on the type of program services offered as well as the percentage of youth enrolled who were eligible for free and reduced meals (information regarding free and reduced percentages can be found on CDE’s DataQuest website http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/).
* Once the YMCA selected the appropriate summer sites, the YMCA identified key stakeholders within the organization to manage and operate the SFSP. Key stakeholders within the organization included their Vice President of Community Development & Programs, Association Grant Manager, Trainers, Summer Camp Program Directors, and Summer Camp Leaders. Each level of YMCA staff was involved in the pre-application process to determine the capacity of the organization as well as the systems in place to ensure SFSP compliance and operating requirements.
* After meeting with all YMCA staff and stakeholders, the YMCA contacted the SFSP analyst to submit the sponsor application form. In the application, the YMCA described the sites they wanted to serve, proposed budget and information about the organization’s ability to run a food service program for campers. The SFSP program analyst was available to answer all questions regarding the application. Since our initial application, CDE has created an on-line web based Child Nutrition Information and Payment System. (CNIPS) which allows potential sponsors to upload all of their application materials on-line. CNIPS also tracks your application, providing the applicant with a summary of any missing documents or help needed to finalize the application.
* Once the application was submitted and approved, a SFSP program analyst met with the organization’s management team to review all the program requirements, conducted a pre-operational visit, as well as discussing any concerns or questions that the organization may have.
3) Successfully operate sites
* The YMCA was approved in early May 2009, the organization reviewed all sponsor information from the SFSP office and developed systems to ensure compliance. Systems included on-going training, site monitoring, claim submission, accounting, creation of snack menus, and snack attendance.
* The YMCA created a summer staff training for all staff involved in SFSP at their sites, the staff training was conducted in late May 2009 (See PowerPoint Training)
* Within the first week of operation, a designated YMCA staff member was sent to each camp site to complete the first of the SFSP monitoring reports. The monitoring report allowed the organization to ensure that the food service was operating smoothly, correct any problems as well as provide additional trainings if necessary. Any or all adjustments were made at this time before completing the first month’s reimbursement claim.
* Each month, the organization’s SFSP sites submitted their summer camp attendance to a designated YMCA staff member who completed the SFSP claims. The attendance sheets included each child’s daily participation in the SFSP. A designated YMCA staff member from the organization reviewed each site’s monthly attendance and tallied all the snack counts for the month. After reviewing the attendance for accuracy, a claim was then submitted to the Nutrition Service Department.
* The organization had identified the need to vend their snacks for the summer. To ensure consistency, it was best to have one food vendor and once cycle menu that met the required meal pattern for all the SFSP Individual and pre-packaged snacks were delivered to each site and YMCA staff were able to easily disperse the snacks to all SFSP participants. The YMCA contracted with US Foods in early May. This process took several weeks and the organization recommends finding potential vendors 6 months prior to start of summer programming as well as reviewing the costs per snack per day so that food expenses are cost effective.
* In addition to all of the above, all SFSP documents related to the application, training, receipts from vendors, site monitoring reports, cycle menus, attendance records, and copies of all claims were kept for future visits from CDE SFSP auditors (see SFSP Administrative Guidance form from CDE).
Lessons Learned: Our organization recognized that it was really important to work with the “right” food vendor for the summer. Select the right vendor early and a vendor that is reputable. A great vendor will allow for a variety of quality foods (even peanut free) and will work with you to ensure that all items meet the necessary SFSP meal pattern requirements.
4) Build participation of families and children
* Since the YMCA SFSP sites were closed-enrolled, the YMCA did not provide SFSP outreach to the community. The SFSP was only available to YMCA pre-registered summer camp participants.
* Included in the organization’s summer camp registration for each child, was a letter to families describing the YMCA’s participation in SFSP in Spanish and English. (See Welcome Letter.)
* Through on-going collaboration with other community based organizations, the YMCA has discussed their role in SFSP and has coached others to explore opportunities of becoming a SFSP sponsor.
* The YMCA is currently looking into potential opportunities to have open sites in the future. Some of the organization’s potential outreach for SFSP would include creating banners and signs promoting SFSP at each YMCA child care, After School facility, and camp program. Information would also be dispersed to a wide variety of local radio and news stations.
Lessons Learned: The YMCA really looks at SFSP as a sustainable program for the long run. Additional “financial” resources or grants such as Silent Heroes is available for those who wish to serve breakfast and will fund programs up to $10k at www.gotbreakfast.org
5) Provide nutrition education
* YMCA Summer Camp Staff engages in daily conversation around
1. Helping YMCA youth learn how to choose healthier foods and appropriate serving sizes,
2. Focusing on the importance of eating a breakfast that contains three food groups and foods high in calcium and encourages students to participate in school breakfast programs where they are available,
3. Teaching YMCA youth about the significance of making healthy choices and resisting advertisements that promote unhealthy foods,
4. Providing youth with opportunities to use critical thinking skills to explore different drink options and make choices about what is best for their bodies for optimal health and performance, and
5. Educating youth about physical activities that promote heart health
* The YMCA of Silicon Valley in partnership with the Santa Clara County Office of Education, developed Fit for Learning After School, a school-aged nutrition and physical activity resource guide that are organized around monthly themes. Resources are compiled from local and national partners and organizations including Kaiser Permanente, Dairy Council of California, YMCA Food and Fun, USDA, Network for a Healthy California, American Heart Association, Dole 5-a-Day, and California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom. The resource guide, as well as supplemental monthly theme-based packets of additional lessons, activities, and parent outreach materials, can be found at http://www.fitforlearning.org/FFLGuide.asp. The guide is user friendly for YMCA camp staff and allows for youth to engage in a wide variety of fun and healthy activities. The guide also includes take-home materials for families to use to help further reinforce the Fit for Learning monthly themes.
* During the month of June, the YMCA partners with the Santa Clara County Public Health Department (along with other organizations and Public Health Departments from all 6 counties in the Bay Area) on the Re-think Your Drink and Soda Free Summer Campaign. Staff go through a “Sugar Savvy” Training and are given educational materials and promotional items to help educate children and their families about the impacts of sugar and sweetened beverages. Families are encouraged to fill out a pledge card and be “soda free” for the summer. (See link at http://www.sodafreesummer.org/)
* To ensure that current information on a variety of types of assistance is easily accessible, brochures identifying local community resources such as food banks, how to sign-up for school lunch programs, food stamp and WIC programs, and free medical clinics, are provided families during the summer and posted at sign-out locations when parents pick up their children at the end of the day.
