Examples
The following are examples of ways to find funding opportunities in your community.  Remember that this list is not exhaustive. If you think of more creative ideas for fund-raising, go for it!

• Ask individuals, organizations, religious clergy or businesses to support your summer program. Can they provide funds to help cover extra program costs for a day, a week, a month or even the whole summer?

• A phone call is as good as a letter for an initial contact with a potential funder. Keep it brief, focused, and avoid jargon.

• When approaching a business or organization for funding, find a connection between the program and the potential funder so there is a logical reason for them to help.  Are children and their families customers or consumers of their products? Could their employees’ families benefit from summer meals?

• Ask a local church or civic organization to coordinate a donation drive for materials, such as paper products, seasonal fruits and vegetables, toys or cleaning products.

• When requesting funding, focus on solutions. Don't just ask for money, but identify specific needs (e.g., transportation, paper supplies, staff to run programs) and let them know how their support will help.

• Ask county or city governments to provide a small amount of discretionary funding to cover high costs: transportation, staffing, outreach materials, etc.

• Ask local restaurants to donate a percent of profits for a day. Let the donor know that their contribution goes directly toward improving the nutritional well-being of children in their community.

• Contact local businesses or national chains with local stores about corporate giving programs. Also ask them about employee volunteer programs. Some larger companies may have special programs to encourage community involvement by their employees.

• Examples of goods to request include cups, juices, special snacks, supplies for activities, or giveaways for participants (t-shirts, toys, stickers, gift certificates, etc.).

• If your community is near a college or university, ask a fraternity or sorority to either run a fundraiser for the program or volunteer time during the summer.

• Find ways to give credit to donors who are supporting your program—mention them on materials or websites, invite them to special events, have participants make thank-you cards or certificates.

Cost-Effectiveness

There are several areas where cost-effectiveness can really help your Summer Food site cut costs and save money.

Cost Effective Purchasing & Menu Practices

• Work with other sponsors in your area to coordinate purchases from the same vendor in order to get a better bulk discount on food and supply orders.

• If storage space is available, buy products in bulk through grocery and paper wholesalers.

• Paper products such as eating utensils, cups, napkins and straws can be costly items. If your program needs to use these items, look for ways to get them donated, or ask if there are discounts available.

• You may be able to purchase food items from local food banks. Ask your local food bank if they have reduced-price produce or other items.

• Build a relationship with vendors to allow flexibility to order on a daily basis.

• Particularly for schools, ask the vendor who sells food to the school during the academic year to donate one case of food during the summer for every 100 cases ordered during the school year.

• For smaller programs, watch for weekly specials at local grocery stores and be flexible about revising your menu to take advantage of sales.

• To minimize waste, plan menus appropriate for the tastes and appetites of school-age children. Survey site staff and children to determine which foods are most popular, and which items are regularly thrown away.

• Plan menus so that leftover foods can be used the next day if needed.

• Try to adjust the number of meals prepared for the day based on the amount of leftovers from the day before and on the weather - - fewer children will attend sites on rainy days or if there is a big event going on in town.

• Contact vendors at a local farmers' market to ask about purchasing seasonal fruits and vegetables.  You may be able to get items in high season at lower costs if vendors have a surplus.

• Take advantage of the option to allow “share” or “no thank you” tables at your sites, particularly if you serve a fairly wide age range. Items the younger or not-so-hungry children aren’t going to eat can then be shared with older or hungrier children. This keeps both food waste and second meals to a minimum.

• You can also evaluate foods left behind on “no thank you” table to get a better sense of food preferences, and adjust your meals accordingly if needed to reduce waste.

• If you are able to make the numbers work, consider offering a free adult meal to parents who agree to volunteer. Programs that do this often find these parent helpers to be a valuable and inexpensive source of assistance.

Using Volunteers

Staffing your Summer Food site with volunteers is an excellent way to reduce costs and save money.  High school and college students are often looking for an internship experience or volunteer opportunity for the summer, and they may be willing to commit to a large amount of time to fulfill their requirements for school.  Additionally, you can recruit volunteers from around the community to come in on a weekly basis or just once to help out with special activities.  See the Volunteer Basics section for more tips on finding and utilizing volunteers.

Identifying Inexpensive Transportation

Sometimes transportation of kids to the Summer Food sites (or food to kids) can be one of the biggest challenges a site will face.  This may especially be true in rural areas where kids live farther away from meal sites than do kids in urban areas.  Here are some creative ideas to help lower transportation costs and increase participation from kids without spending your entire budget.

• Ask for bids from local bus companies to find the lowest price for transportation.

• If you have funds to purchase a vehicle to transport meals or kids, approach local bus companies to see if they have older buses for sale.

• Local recreation departments may provide transportation for their programs. Contact the Department to see if you can share or rent a vehicle from them.

• Share a vehicle used for a Head Start program or a Meals on Wheels program to transport meals to summer sites. This can cut down on costs and can be less expensive than renting a van from a private company.

• Church groups often have transportation vehicles. Arrange to share their vehicle with your program during the week.

• Create a "mobile site" by transporting food to sites. A single bus or other vehicle can make multiple stops in one day, pausing long enough for children to eat their meals outside or on the bus before it travels on to another site. Using one vehicle and one or two staff to serve several sites cuts back on costs.

• Use one vehicle to transport food and site coordinators to several sites. The vehicle travels a route, delivering meals (and site coordinators) along the way, and then allows enough time for the meals to be served and cleaned up before it returns to pick up each of the site coordinators.

• Ask fuel companies to donate gasoline to lower the cost of transportation.

• Work with the local Council on Aging to see if they have transportation available to senior centers that could be used to transport children to the senior center for meals as well. This creates an inter-generational program with the children and seniors.

• Talk to local bus or delivery companies about dropping food off at sites along their regular routes.

• If the transportation problem you face is one of safety, rather than long distances, take a page from school year efforts to get more kids walking and biking to school. Organize a campaign to get local parents to walk or bike with groups of kids to your site!

Some of the above tips were adapted from Tuft University’s 50 Ways to Run the Summer Food Program on a Low Budget.

• Tufts University, 50 Ways to Run the Summer Food Program on a Low Budget: http://nutrition.tufts.edu/pdf/publications/hunger/50ways.pdf

• Oregon Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs:
• Phone:  503-947-5902
• Website:  http://www.ode.state.or.us/services/nutrition/sfsp

• Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force
• Phone: 503-595-5502
• Website: www.oregonhunger.org

• Oregon Walk and Bike to School: www.walknbike.org