UNG Summer Food Service Program

Abstract

Poverty, low educational attainment, and food insecurity are significant issues for families and children living in the shadows of our two largest campuses¹, and in the northeast Georgia region we serve. Sixty six percent of school-aged children in Hall and Lumpkin Counties experience food insecurity and qualify for free or reduced meals at school, and more than fifty percent of the children attending public schools in northeast Georgia qualify for free or reduced price meals during the school year².

During the summer months, the Nutrition Services Division of Bright from the Start administers the Summer Food Service Program (BFTS-SFSP) in Georgia. SFSP is a federal nutrition program funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)) to ensure that children throughout Georgia have access to nutritious meals during the summer when school is not in session to help alleviate hunger and malnutrition and address the negative effects that hunger and malnutrition have on an individual's health, educational development, and growth³.

As a Bright for the Start Summer Food Service Sponsor, the UNG Summer Food Service Program 2012 provides meals and snacks to school-age children in every county where UNG has a campus, as well as three additional counties in the northeast Georgia region.

The UNG Summer Food Service Program has maintained considerable growth year over year:

Total Meals/Snacks Served

Lunch

Breakfast

Snack

Total Served

Summer 2012

2,624

1,603

925

5,152

Summer 2013

6,708

6,661

13,369

Summer 2014

13,527

6,179

19,706

Summer 2015

20,245

8,295

28,540

With commitments in place for Summer 2016 from our community partners, Forsyth County Schools, Georgia Food Bank –Arby’s Foundation, the Georgia Mountain Food Bank and the Area Agency on Aging Senior Community Service Employment Program, as well as our host meal sites, the UNG Summer Food Service Program 2016 seeks to continue to grow – reaching out to more children at additional meal in an effort to improve the overall nutritional status of many of Georgia’s most vulnerable children, help alleviate hunger and malnutrition, and address the negative effects that hunger and malnutrition have on an individual's health, educational development, and growth.

1. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml;

2. http://decal.ga.gov/documents/attachments/13FreeRedAllSchools.pdf

3. http://decal.ga.gov/Nutrition/AboutNutritionServices.aspx