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February 2, 2017 Summer meals sponsors needed!The New Jersey Department of Agriculture will begin holding trainings in February for schools, community organizations, municipal entities and others that want to serve as summer meal sponsors this year. While New Jersey is making progress in providing kids with more summer meals, there are still tens of thousands of children who miss out on this critical summertime nutrition. Please consider becoming a summer meals sponsor. Trainings will be held in February and March and are mandatory. So now is the time to contact the NJ Department of Agriculture at 609-292-4498 or by emailing SFSPCommunication@ag.state.nj.us. Speaking of summer…The New Jersey Food for Thought Campaign, Advocates for Children of New Jersey and the New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coalition hosted their first Summer Meals Strategy Session with several North Jersey communities who came together to explore how to expand summer meals to more children. Ideas ranged from more aggressive outreach to children and families, including kick off events, to crafting contract language in a way that improves the quality of meals served. The campaign hopes to hold more roundtables on both summer meals and school breakfast. If you are interested in participating, please email Reginald Dorsey at rdorsey@acnj.org. Fund to feed kids advancing in state LegislatureTwo Legislative committees have approved a bill that will dedicate state dollars to feed children facing hunger, while bringing more federal dollars back to New Jersey. Under the bill, S-2819/A-4363, the Nourishing Young Minds Initiative Fund would defray the costs of effectively implementing the federal school breakfast and summer meals programs in high-poverty communities, helping to increase the number of low-income children receiving these meals. Because towns are reimbursed based on the number of meals served, this would bring more federal dollars into New Jersey communities to feed hungry kids. We will keep you informed of the measure’s progress. Start Planning for National School Breakfast Week (March 6–10)Have you started planning for National School Breakfast Week? Students, parents, food service staff, educators, public officials and advocates from across the country will be celebrating school breakfast from March 6 to 10. Listen to FRAC’s January Breakfast Matters Webinar for ideas and resources you can use to celebrate school breakfast during NSBW and year-round. View National School Breakfast Week resources. School Breakfast: Making Breakfast Part of the School DayTuesday, March 14,3 p.m. | Register here. Letter supports national nutrition safety netThe National Anti-Hunger Organizations (NAHO) have penned a letter reaffirming a commitment to a strong and effective national nutrition safety net for vulnerable, low-income individuals and families and calling on Congress and the President to safeguard and support these critically-important programs. This letter will be a key advocacy resource for the 2017 National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference, March 5th-7th in Washington, DC. |
The Food for Thought School Breakfast Campaign is a partnership of state agencies, child advocates, anti-hunger coalitions, statewide education organizations and national organizations. |
Advocates for Children of New Jersey |