Author: Dianne Hayward
Planning Unit: Cumberland County CES
Major Program: Nutrition and Food Systems General
Outcome: Initial Outcome
Cumberland County schools have offered a Summer feed Program over the past several years due to the fact that they are classified as a low income area with 72 % of families eligible for free and reduced meals.This year Cumberland County Extension office, ANR and FCS Agents and myself the Nutrition Education Program Assistant partnered with the Cumberland County Food Services director to promote the Summer Feed Program where all school age children could collect food boxes each week throughout the summer. Extension ran a Where’s Wally Cat Poster Scavenger Hunt every two weeks where a business in Burkesville put up a poster either outside or inside and the children with their families had to find it and take a picture with it. They were given clues and had other activity sheets which consisted of My Plate and Farm to school curriculum along with budgeting for food, resource management and getting the correct amount of physical activity the families had to complete and hand in at the next food distribution day. The following Businesses: IGA Riverside, Citizens Bank of Cumberland County, First and Café, and Burkesville Public Library, Cumberland County Farmers Market supported the program. We gave away things like jump ropes, flying discs, footballs, kites, piggy banks crayons and coloring books, farmers market vouchers in their programs bags.
There was on average 93 families for food boxes and the food service ladies from the Cumberland County schools who help distribute the food boxes each week through this long HOT SUMMER FEED. They served up approximately 1000 boxes of a weeks’ meals in each box. This is not counting the meals they served to holiday camp programs like Band, Day Care and 21st century summer programs. Fantastic Job Ladies and especially to the food service director.30 Families with over 50 children that participated in at least one week of the where’s Wally Cat poster the families received a point for each item they accomplished to be in the draw to be best participant in the Where's wally cat program over all. The families who participated enjoyed it immensely and said" it kept their children engaged for the whole of the summer ". One student sent family(grandma) to the bag pick up day from her birthday party so she would not miss the program. The family that won the best participation also entered the County fair with the mum gaining prizes/ribbon in preserves a new endeavor for her and the children winning in the baking section.This program proves that even during covid and on summer vacation we can feed and educate our next generation of families safely..
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