Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Food for Thought Recap

Richard Comeau, Program Director at Hunger Free Oklahoma, used mapping to show Oklahoma summer meal sites and the patterns of decline for summer. The map also showed the priority areas in relations to current summer meal sites.

Click for Presentation: Oklahoma Summer Meal Sites – Tulsa

Click for Presentation: Oklahoma Summer Meal Sites – OKC 

Rebecca Lais, MSW intern from Hunger Free Oklahoma, showed statistics gathered from a survey sent to sponsors to examine the victories of programs and collect data to improve the participation in the summer programs.

Click for Presentation: Summer Sponsor Survey Highlights 2017

Thank You to Our Partners:

Food for Thought

A Recap of Summer Meal Program 2017 and Looking to the Future.

The Oklahoma Childhood Food Security Coalition would like to say thank you to all of the organizations that were present for the Food for Thought events in Tulsa and Oklahoma City recapping the 2017 Summer Meal Program. We appreciate your attendance and participation in the discussions. We heard from many different organizations about the programming successes of Summer Meals for 2017, as well as ways to enhance them.

The Oklahoma Childhood Food Security Coalition has compiled this webpage to recap the two events. Here you will be able to browse the videos, power points, overall themes, and what is next for the coalition.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text: Resources (mobile)” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font_size=”16″ text_text_color=”#000000″ use_border_color=”off” border_style=”solid” disabled=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” disabled_on=”||on”]

Resources:

Discussion Recap:

Click on the links below to access small group discussion brainstorming lists:

Presentation Summary:

Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma

Ryan Abernathy, Senior Director of Programs and Nutrition for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, presented on the history of the summer feeding program, partnerships they’ve developed, and challenges experienced this year as a summer feeding sponsor.  As the largest sponsor in Oklahoma, the food bank has seen continued growth and increased numbers in the number of meals served each summer.

Presentation: The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma

Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma

Shiraya Proffitt, who serves as the Community Initiatives Manager at the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, reported on several innovative ideas the food bank has used in their first year as a sponsor, as well as ways to improve participation. She showed how meal packaging made food more desirable to the children and how strengthening partnerships with organizations like the Tulsa City-County Library were vital to their success.

Presentation: Summer Feeding 2017

Oklahoma State Department of Education

Debbie Hamilton, Executive Director of Child Nutrition at the Oklahoma State Department of Education, presented the rules and regulations for sponsors, tips for success, and ways to be successful with your summer meal sites.

Presentation: Food That’s in When School is Out
By the Numbers: Comparing SFSP for 2014-2017

Bright Spot: Okemah Food Program, Okemah Public Schools 

Jeremy Strickland from the Okemah Kids Café discussed how the Okemah community and partners in Okfuskee County mobilized after seeing a need in their area. Those partnerships have made it possible to create a thriving summer feeding program that engages the children who participate on all levels.

Bright Spot: YMCA Summer Meal Program, Oklahoma Alliance of YMCA’s

Sara Bojarski and Jill Goyette from the YMCA shared how their site supervisors and staff were able to connect with the children and families they serve. Through these relationships they were able to develop an additional program to serve the children of Oklahoma City. The video, provided below, shows how several YMCAs added summer feeding to their programs and opened their sites  to the surrounding community.

Thank You to Our Partners:

Oklahoma Alliance of YMCAs
Oklahoma Partnership for Expanded Learning
Oklahoma State Department of Education

Call to Action:

  • Come join the Childhood Food Security Coalition to share your voice.
  • Promote summer meals on social media and with partners.
  • Stay engaged! Look for an exciting announcement about next steps and some additional resources to help get the word out about Summer Meals – Coming Soon!!!

Working together for a hunger free Oklahoma.

To top