As the weather warms up and the days get longer, we find ourselves getting closer and closer to summer – and with summer comes summer meals! While you may still be focused on finishing out the school year, a successful summer meals program starts with strong planning. No Kid Hungry Tennessee is here to help. No Kid Hungry’s Center for Best Practices offers a variety of resources for summer meals sponsors of all levels of experience. Not sure where to start? Here’s some of our favorite resources:
Mapping & Area Eligibility:
- Navigating Area Eligibility In Summer And Afterschool Meals
- No Kid Hungry Summer Meals Eligibility Map
- Rural Summer Meal Coverage Tool
Operational Support
- Proactive Planning for Summer Meals Sponsors
- How a School District Can Offer Home Delivery of Meals During the Summer
- Successful Non-Congregate Meal Service Models for Rural Areas: Implementation Guide
- Feeding A Crowd – Tips For Congregate Meal Service
- Managing Costs In School Nutrition Programs
Generating Program Support
- Bridging the Gap: Building Authentic Partnerships Between Urban and Rural Organizations
- Summer Meals in Libraries
- Conversation Starters for Designing More Inclusive School Meals Programs
Curious about how other sponsors are operating in Tennessee? Check out our spotlights from Summer 2023 and 2024.
- Bledsoe County School Nutrition Hitting It Out of the Park
- Southwest Human Resource Agency: Delivering Hope
Have more questions or need technical assistance? Reach out to the No Kid Hungry Tennessee team at mspady@strength.org. If you are interested in grant funding to start or expand a rural non-congregate meals program, fill out our inquiry form. When we work together, we can make sure that every child across Tennessee has access to three meals a day, 365 days a year.
