Summer Food Service Program

About the Program

The Summer Food Service Program for Children (SFSP) provides funds for organizations to serve meals to low-income children when school is not in session. Funding is provided by the USDA. Meal sites are hosted at a variety of locations, including parks, schools and churches.

Benefits

Thousands of Oregon children depend on free or reduced priced meals during the school year. When school ends, so does this important resource. SFSP helps fill the gap. Free meals also benefit programs by encouraging higher attendance.

Start a Program: Contact Barbara Cracknell, Oregon Department of Education, or read our Fact Sheet and Summer Food Guide.

Find Free Summer Meals: Project Summer Website

What We Do

Outreach and Program Assistance

Through our Summer Food Outreach Project, we work with the Oregon Department of Education and other partners to identify communities that lack summer food programs, help get programs up and running, and increase awareness of meal sites among the public. We document and share best practices through publications like our Summer Food Guide, a comprehensive resource for operators of summer food programs.

Advocacy

We identify opportunities for Summer Food Service improvement through our work with providers here in Oregon, and monitoring efforts of other states. We advocate for these improvements through state and federal policy change, like Federal Child Nutrition Reauthorization.