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Sponsors
Make an investment in the children in your community. If your organization already provides services to the community and has capable staff and good management practices to run a food service, you can administer
SFSP.
As a sponsor, you will:
Training
Each year, the
State agency conducts training for the supervisors of all organizations that are interested in serving as SFSP sponsors. Training will help you decide whether sponsoring SFSP is for you. It provides an opportunity for you to meet other sponsors in your State, ask questions about SFSP, and begin to develop a strategy for launching your program.
The training covers all necessary areas of running the program for experienced sponsors and for organizations that are new to the program. It also provides important information to help you train your administrative team and the staff and volunteers who will work at your sites.
Sites
A site is the physical location, approved by the State agency, where you serve SFSP meals during a supervised time period. There are five types of sites:
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open
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enrolled
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camp
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migrant
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NYSP
Meal service sites may be located in a variety of settings, including schools, recreation centers, playgrounds, parks, churches, community centers, day camps, residential summer camps, housing projects, and migrant centers, or on Indian reservations. The most effective sites will be located in areas where you can offer a supervised food service with
recreational or enrichment activities.
With the support of community organizations, pick out potential areas where you could run a successful food service program for children. Work closely with your State agency to determine if your potential sites are located in eligible areas.
Staffing
As a sponsor, you will want to reach into your community to attract a winning team of staff and volunteers. You will need capable people who can provide overall coordination, supervise sites, monitor sites, conduct training, conduct community outreach, prepare or deliver meals, and handle program bookkeeping.
Meals
A sponsor may prepare its own
meals, purchase meals through an agreement with an area school, or contract for meals with a food service management company (vendor).
If your site has its own kitchen, you may want to prepare meals yourself. If your kitchen is not on the premises, you may still want to prepare your own meals, and then transport them to the site. Meals that you prepare yourself receive a slightly higher rate of reimbursement. You would receive "self-prep" rates, whether you prepared the meals from scratch or purchase the components and assemble the meals yourself.
Many government and private nonprofit sponsors lack the kitchen facilities to prepare meals themselves. In that case, you may arrange to purchase meals from a school or another public or private food supplier with approved meal preparation facilities.
Reimbursement
As of January 1, 2008, the SFSP has some "Simplified" procedures.
It is now easier than ever to participate! The State agency
reimburses SFSP sponsors on a per-meal basis for the meals they serve to eligible participants that meet program requirements. To receive your reimbursement, you must prepare a claim
to report the number of meals served each month and submit it to your State agency.
Total reimbursement is limited by per-meal reimbursement rates. Careful
planning will help you cover all of your costs. Your costs will depend on many factors, including the number of meals you serve; the price you pay for food or meals, if purchased from a vendor; and the amount of wages you pay your staff.
Here are some examples of costs:
1) Operating: Operating costs are the costs of running your food service.
These are the expenses you have for preparing, obtaining, delivering, and
serving meals.
2) Administrative: Administrative costs are the costs you have for
activities related to planning, organizing and administering your program.
These expenses should be included in your approved budget.
Remember, SFSP is a nonprofit food service program for children. Sponsors must be prepared to manage
their food service program carefully, and add other resources to their programs, if necessary.
Sponsors must keep documentation of all costs to show that they are allowable.
Closely
monitor all your costs to ensure that you do not spend more than your reimbursement. You are responsible for
any costs or expenses that are more than your reimbursement.
CACFP-Summertalk
is an email discussion group (a
listserv) for State agencies and
sponsoring organizations participating
in the Summer Food Service Program. CACFP-Summertalk
is a forum to discuss topics, ask
questions and even provide answers
regarding the SFSP. To subscribe, click
on the CACFP-Summertalk link, and you
will be taken to USDA's National
Agriculture Library website, which is
the agency sponsoring the listserv.
While there, click on that
CACFP-Summertalk link. The link will
open an email message to: owner-cacfp-talk@nal.usda.gov
. On the Subject line of the email, type
"subscribe" and an email
response will be sent to that computer
requesting some additional information
to complete the subscription process.
And while you're on
the NAL website, become familiar with
the many resources available to State
and local entities on a variety of
topics.
Last modified:
10/30/2008
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