After-School Meals Grant Opportunity – Deadline may 15

Rise & Shine Illinois announces After-School Meals grant opportunity through No Kid Hungry Illinois

CACFP At-Risk After-School Meals Program Expansion Grant

Application Deadline: MAY 15, 2015

In partnership with Rise & Shine Illinois, this grant opportunity for up to $2,500 each is funded through Share Our Strength and the Illinois No Kid Hungry Campaign to help At-Risk After-School Meal (aka “Supper”) sponsors expand access to and participation in after-school and extended day meal programs that receive reimbursement through the USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). The priority is to help sponsors maximize their ability to provide students in eligible after-school programs (http://www.isbe.state.il.us/nutrition/pdf/at_risk_fs.pdf) with a full supper meal.

Click here to read more

Eligibility

The supper program must be:

  • Located in an eligible site or area
  • Served in conjunction with an eligible after-school enrichment program

Within the scope of the purpose above, the following programs are top priorities for support:

  • Starting new CACFP supper programs in conjunction with eligible after-school enrichment programs.
  • Sponsors currently providing after-school snacks supported by either CACFP or the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) who wish to expand their program to provide a full meal in place of or in addition to a snack.
  • Sponsors currently providing a CACFP supported supper, looking to expand or enhance their program to help them reach more children.

All applying organizations must be either 501(c)(3) nonprofits currently in good standing, schools/school systems approved to participate in CACFP or NSLP, local government agencies able to accept grants, or churches/tax-exempt religious organizations not required to apply for official 501(c)(3) status.

You must have already started the CACFP application process with your state agency at the time you submit your grant application. We will accept grant applications from organizations that have started the process and/or are awaiting approval from your state agency; however grants will only be awarded to organizations that are approved as program sponsors.

Eligible Uses of Funds

These grants are intended to help with costs associated with starting or growing a supper program, including, but not limited to:

  • Staffing
  • Equipment
  • Program costs (per USDA guidelines, programs that wish to provide a full supper must provide some kind of enrichment programming)
  • Outreach to increase enrollment
  • Support to offset registration or other enrollment fees for low-income families
  • Transportation

Average Grant Award: $2,500

Reporting Requirements

If funded, you will be required to complete a report on the following:

  • Financial report on use of funds
  • Monthly participation numbers
  • Interim and final narrative report on the successes and challenges of your program over the course of the program

Organizations that do not submit a report will be ineligible to receive future grants from Share Our Strength.

Grant applications will be evaluated based on:

  • Adherence to Eligibility and Requirements guidelines
  • Program sustainability beyond the grant funding period
  • Growth potential for CACFP afterschool meals and snack program participation.

All applicants must submit a complete application; incomplete applications will not be considered.

Application Due Date

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis through November 15, 2015 with three deadlines: May 15th, August 15th and November 15th.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY.  You will need to create a user profile. Use the access key: ILCACFP2015 when prompted (all caps).