Community partners and organizations interested in providing free meals to Nashville’s youth are asked to apply with as a Metropolitan Action Commission Summer Food site by Friday (April 22).
Each summer Metro Action provides free breakfast and lunch meals to youth programs and other gathering spots where youth are present such as apartment properties, day camps, religious based programs, community centers and sports camps.
“The goal of this program is to recruit meal sites partners throughout Davidson County so that nutritious meals will be accessible to youth throughout the summer,” said Marvin Cox, director of Metro Action Community Services.
To qualify the meal site must serve or be located near schools that participate in the Free and Reduced Lunch program during the school year. This priority allows children who would ordinarily receive free meals at school to continue to have access to meals during the summer when school is out.
Training will be provided in May for new and existing youth programs as well as ongoing monitoring to support the program. The summer meal program begins on June 6 to July 29.
To apply as a summer site, representatives can visit the agency’s website (www.nashville.gov/mac) to access the summer food location application or submit the application in person at the agency’s main office (800 2nd Avenue, North).
Metro Action urges all potential sites to submit their application by Friday, April 22. For more information call 615-862-8860, Extension 70120.
The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is a national program designated to provide nutritionally balanced meals for school-age children during the summer that may otherwise go without a meal during the day. Metro Action receives federal funding for the SFSP from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service through a grant with the Tennessee Department of Human Services.