afterschool and summer meals in rochester aaron lattanzio summer meals coordinator finger lakes...
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AFTERSCHOOL AND SUMMER MEALS IN ROCHESTER
Aaron LattanzioSummer Meals CoordinatorFinger Lakes Health Systems Agency
Need for Year-Round Meal Access
• 5th poorest city in the U.S (among top 75)• 7th highest child poverty rate in the nation – 55%• 18% of children in our County deemed food insecure
(~30K)
• 38,000 Rochester City School District Students (RCSD)• In 2012 88% of RCSD students were eligible for free or
reduced priced meals• Community-wide eligible district since 2012-2013 school
year
• Summer meals need / gap• Less than one quarter of students participating in free and
reduced price meal program are accessing summer meals
Collaborative Approach
Meals Reimbursement
• State Administrator:• NY State Education Department (NYSED)
• Local Sponsors:• The City of Rochester• Foodlink (Freshwise)• The Rochester City School District
Summer Meals Planning Committee
• Led by local Community Foundation and Healthi Kids Coalition
Other Stakeholders• Youth advocacy organizations, provider orgs. (Horizons), youth serving orgs. (YMCA), family resource coordinators, faith community
Why Collaborate?• Sponsors and member sites are part of a
connected community-focused network• Sponsors shift from competitors to partners
in serving youth in our community
• One of few communities to engage libraries, YMCA, Parks and Rec departments
• Unified message and materials
• Coordinated efforts & Increased efficiencies
• Shared resources
SMPC GOALS
1. Increase access to afterschool and summer meals options
2. Raise Summer Meals Brand Awareness in our community
3. Increased number of participating sites, where youth already attend
Unified Summer Meals Messaging
Dial 2-1-1 or visit HealthiKids.org
Promotional /Marketing Mix
1. Print Media2. Outdoor
Advertising3. Radio4. Digital5. Public
Relations6. Grassroots
community outreach
7. Media Appearances
8. Kick-Off Event
1. Community Events and Presentations
2. Arm trusted influencers – Outreach tools
3. Target affinity groups for wholesale approach – Faith Community / Health Care - Fact Sheet and Key Messages
4. Press Releases - tied to key events and progress reports
5. Media Appearances - local radio and community TV
Site Recruitment Strategy
Summer Meals• Target high need neighborhoods• Map existing sites to identify gaps in coverage• Identify locations where youth are already attending
• Lower barriers to becoming a site• Reduces challenge of attracting youth and developing
programs
Afterschool Meals • Work closely with RCSD to identify schools with highest
need• Focus on expanded learning sites as target CACFP
sites
Afterschool Challenges
Staffing Meal Reimbursement
• District foodservice unions made staffing difficult
• Need to provide outside staffing
Solution:• Local Sponsor – Foodlink
helped alleviate some staffing issues
• Older youth volunteers help serve meals
• School sites already providing reimbursed snacks through National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
Solution:• SMPC supported serving
full meals versus a snack• RCSD was willing to forgo
their reimbursement
Afterschool ChallengesMultiple Feeding Locations Who is the Gatekeeper
• For profit and Nonprofit providers in the same building
• Sites being rejected because of existing sites
Solution:• Advocacy w/CACFP• School-wide sponsor
expands to cover entire building
• Afterschool programs not always linked to identifiable school staff
• Educators have so much on their plate meals aren’t top of mind
Solution:• Leverage district
partnership to help identify and connect to program directors
Successes – CACFP and Summer Meals• Afterschool / CACFP - 2015
• Strengthened partnership with school district for planning and recruitment
• Simplified CACFP application process• Averaging 27,500 CACFP Afterschool Meals and 11,650
Snacks per month• 41 active sites• 15% increase over meals served from the 4th Quarter of 2014
• Summer Meals – 2014• Strengthened Summer Meals brand awareness• 71 Open sites and 33 Closed sites• Total Meals – Increase by 18K meals in July and August• Estimated Lunch Average Daily Participation July – 5,500,
+2%• Estimated Breakfast ADP July – 4,800, +13%
Rochester Next Steps
1. Continue to focus on expanding sites at existing youth programs
2. Drive youth to existing sites
3. Improving customer experience
