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The School & Summer Nutrition team, together with the Public
Policy team, endeavors to work at a grassroots level and engage local communities, schools, community-based
organizations, faith-based groups and volunteer organizations to expand food resources for families and are key
to Feeding hungry minds and bodies®.
 Children's
Hunger Alliance, in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Education's Office of Safety, Health and Nutrition,
promotes use of the USDA safety net to feed hungry kids and to generate economic growth in local communities.
Programs include:
- School Breakfast:
the School & Summer Nutrition team assists schools that do not have School Breakfast Programs in finding the appropriate
strategy for implementing the program, as well as assist other schools in maximizing participation;
- School Lunch:
as with the School Breakfast Program, the School & Summer Nutrition team works to ensure the students who qualify for free or reduced lunches have them available;
- Afterschool
Meals and Snacks: the School & Summer Nutrition team supports the development of new afterschool programs
and assists schools, faith-based groups and community-based agencies in accessing USDA reimbursements so children can have balanced, nutritious meals and snacks afterschool; and,
- Summer Food Service
Program: the School & Summer Nutrition team recruits potential new sponsors and provides assistance to setup new sites for the
Summer Food Service Program, and the team helps with promotion of the sites to increase participation.
 The School
& Summer Nutrition team is currently tasked with increasing school breakfast participation by 6 million breakfasts
served per year through the summer of 2007, and increasing the number of Summer
Food Service Program sites and children participating. It's a tall order, but check out their past accomplishments:
- Expanded number of youths served by summer meal program from 35,000 to 55,000 since 1999;
- Recognized in the top 8 states in the nation for expansion of summer meal programs;
- Selected by USDA as one of 10 states to pilot test USDA regulation resulting in reduced paperwork
and increased School Breakfast and Lunch participation. Results include:
- 31.7% increase in School Breakfast participation
- 8.7% increase in School Lunch participation; and,
- over 2 million additional meals served to Ohio children.
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