December 2016
Dear Pennsylvania Librarians,
On September 29, 2015, Governor Tom Wolf signed an Executive Order establishing the Governor’s Food Security Partnership, which is comprised of secretaries and representatives from the departments of Aging, Agriculture, Community and Economic Development, Education, Health, and Hum
an Services. The Partnership is responsible for promoting, coordinating, and joint planning between government programs and entities in the private sector providing nutrition and food assistance to Pennsylvanians.
Setting the Table: A Blueprint for a Hunger-Free PA is a food security plan that highlights current initiatives and creates goals to create a hunger-free Pennsylvania. The Department of Education’s Child Nutrition Programs are heavily represented in the Blueprint because they are vital opportunities to provide children and students with food security.
The Blueprint lays out the goals of providing all Pennsylvanians with access to healthy, nutritious food, which will improve their well-being, health, and independence and can be found at http://www.dhs.pa.gov/ending-hunger/about/blueprint/index.htm.
Expanding the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is one of the initiatives included in the Governor’s Blueprint. There is a great need and opportunity for schools and non-profit organizations to fill the gap in their communities by becoming a summer meals sponsor or meal site.
The SFSP sponsors arrange for the meal locations and food service in their communities. The sponsors are reimbursed for the meals served to eligible children.
Meal sites are the various locations in the communities where sponsors serve the meals to the children. Sites must be in areas near children from low income families and sites must be safe locations for the children to gather. Libraries are a perfect location for meal sites!
Approximately fifty libraries throughout the state currently participate in the SFSP. If your library is in a low income community and you are not currently participating in the SFSP, would you please consider being a part of the program this summer?
The Pennsylvania Department of Education administers the SFSP and works with the sponsors. The SFSP website, www.education.state.pa.us/sfsp, contains additional information regarding the program, including the forms to initiate the sponsorship process.
To contact the SFSP staff at the Department of Education, please email SFSP-RA@pa.gov or call 800.331.0129.
Thank you for helping to eradicate childhood hunger in Pennsylvania!
Sincerely,
Mary Ringenberg
Education Administration Specialist
Division of Food and Nutrition