New Goals for Summer Food and Piloting Breakfast in the Classroom.

Date: 05/01/08

[The following is an excerpt from an article written by David Berkowitz, Executive Director of the N.Y.C. Department of Education's School Food Services, and is reprinted with permission.]

This is the time of the year when we are in full throttle planning for the summer meals program. I am extremely pleased that last summer's participation was up over the prior year through our new partnerships and ongoing collaborations. Breakfast was up 9% over last year and the lunch program increased by over 5%. This doesn't happen by accident, but rather a team effort of community groups, city agencies, with the support of the Heckscher Foundation and the hard work of SchoolFood staff throughout the city. The new partnership with The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) was a huge success, adding 70 new feeding locations last year. We have continued to work very closely with New York City's Parks Department and we saw meal participation numbers climb at the more than 30 pools throughout the boroughs resulting in a 50% increase from last year. Working with the New York City Public Library, focusing on locations in Brooklyn and Queens, allowed us to pilot lunch service in eight libraries last summer. This collaboration resulted in serving over 4,000 additional meals at these sites. We also expanded program awareness by creating marketing materials in eight languages. Utilizing the posters and flyers for the concentrated outreach to immigrant groups, community based organizations, city agencies, and public areas allowed SchoolFood to target a broad variety of participation opportunities. This past summer SchoolFood ran paid radio ads during peak broadcast times on a wide variety of stations getting the message in the community about the free summer meals program for children 18 years of age and under. The New York State Education Department continues to do a fabulous job of advertising the summer meals program on subways, and buses everywhere in the city. As an added bonus, last year the State Education incorporated SchoolFood's logo and New York City's 311 hotline number on all subway and bus ads. This effort was of most importance because it made it very easy for parents, and community leaders to find open summer meal sites across the city and in particular communities. Moving forward we will build on these strategic improvements; working with NYCHA to look for additional opportunities to provide service at more of their locations, working with NYC Public Libraries to serve more locations and serving more children at NYC pools. Very importantly, we are working with the Coalition Against Hunger, City Harvest, Food Bank/FoodChange, and the HRA in hope of exploring meal service opportunities at soup pantries that serve children during the summer. This could be another great venue to reach more children with a delicious and nutritious meal. Working together with the many concerned partners we will continue to grow this vital program and "Feed the Mind".

Over the last 4 years we have seen the breakfast program continue to grow since Mayor Bloomberg, and Chancellor Joel I. Klein implemented the Free Breakfast program for all children enrolled in New York City schools regardless of family income. SchoolFood's breakfast participation has skyrocketed; more children than ever before are eating breakfast at school and gaining the benefits of a very healthy meal. We know that when children eat breakfast they are more likely to perform better in their academics and have less visits to the nurse's office. This past January we began a Breakfast In The Classroom pilot in over 20 schools citywide to build on the success of the free breakfast program and to raise participation to the highest levels. The goal of the pilot was to reach students who don't have time to eat breakfast before school, who find it difficult to get to school early enough to eat breakfast before the start of class, or children that simply can't afford the meal at home. Knowing the importance of good nutrition to children, the Hechscher Foundation is stepping up to the plate to promote this important initiative by awarding a grant in support of SchoolFood's efforts. We have schools in elementary, junior high and high schools taking part in this Breakfast In The Classroom pilot. Thus far, principals, parents, students and teachers are seeing the value of this initiative. Parents are pleased that their children are getting a healthy meal to start the day, principals and teachers are reporting less absenteeism, and the children report that they enjoy eating breakfast with other students.