Free Summer Meals in NYC!

Free breakfast and lunch this summer from NYC Department of Education's Office of SchoolFood!

Meal site locations, dates, and times now listed online!

Most sites serve free breakfast and lunch served weekdays, June 29th - August 27th. Please check the website for details of official dates and times of each meal site.

No application or sign-up needed.

Click here to locate your nearest meal site.

For a list of your nearest meal site in upstate NY, please call: 1-800-522-5006

House Education and Labor Committee's "Improving Nutrition for America's Children Act"

This past week, the House Education and Labor Committee introduced their Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill entitled, "Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act"!

Click here for analysis of investments.
Click here for bill language and factsheet here.
Click here for Child Nutrition Reauthorization-related resources.

Food Help NY: Connecting Your Clients to Nutrition Programs

Are you seeing more families in need of food assistance than ever before? Is your organization struggling to find ways to help these families? The Nutrition Consortium of NYS can help your organization with connecting children, families, and older adults to nutrition assistance programs.

By joining this free webinar you will:

• Learn about nutrition assistance programs for people of all ages
• Get helpful tips and free resources for promoting these programs
• Find out about our program that offers expert help to thousands applying for food stamp benefits
• Learn more about the link between hunger and obesity
• Hear about an upcoming funding opportunity
• Participate in a question and answer session

Who Should Join this Webinar? Those looking for ways to help low to moderate-income families and individuals become more food secure. This includes people who work in the following settings who are concerned about, or work directly with, people who are hungry: afterschool settings, businesses, child care settings, community-based organizations, emergency food programs, faith-based groups, health care services, schools and senior services.

You are invited to send your questions in advance to help ensure that the webinar addresses your concerns. Please send questions to connie.mcintyre@nutritionconsortium.org. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions during the webinar.

Space is limited. Please note the same webinar will occur on two different dates. Please register for one date only.

Register for a session now by clicking a date below:

Wed, Jun 30, 2010 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM EDT

Thu, Jul 1, 2010 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

Once registered you will receive an email confirming your registration with information you need to join the Webinar.

Please feel free to forward this invitation to all who might be interested! Thank you and hope you can join us! In the meantime we invite you to visit our website.

Please note that in order to participate in the webinar, you may need to download additional software besides having these basic system requirements:

PC-based attendees require: Windows® 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000

Macintosh®-based attendees require: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

Funding Opportunity for Community Based Organizations: Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP)

Join the Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP) and help end hunger in your community! This summer, the Nutrition Consortium of NYS will be soliciting applications for NOEP funding from community-based organizations throughout the state. This competitive grant, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), and administered by the Nutrition Consortium, provides funds for community-based organizations to conduct outreach, education, and application assistance on the Food Stamp Program, and other vital nutrition assistance programs. If you are interested in being contacted when the Request for Proposals (RFP) becomes available, please email Connie McIntyre at connie.mcintyre@nutritionconsortium.org with the subject line “NOEP RFP.”

Help Spread the Word about EBT and Farmers Markets in NYS.

To help spread the word about the opportunity for food stamp recipients to use their EBT cards at NY Farmers Markets, your organization can:

1) Organize an informational meeting with benefits recipients or any other non-profit organization you work with to share the news about this beneficial program. Contact Farmers Market Federation of NY, Diane Eggert at 315.637.4690 if you would like more detailed information for a presentation (other than what is available at http://www.snaptomarket.com/).


2) Post a link to http://www.snaptomarket.com/ on your organization’s Web site.


3) Help spread the word by forwarding a press release to any local media contacts you may have. The press release can be downloaded here.

Support Anti-Hunger Programs in the 2012 Farm Bill

Your comments are needed! Congress is gearing up for the 2012 Farm Bill. Now is your chance to submit written comments about hunger in your community, and how anti-hunger programs funded through the Farm Bill, like the Food Stamp Program, are vital. It is also an opportunity to weigh in on how these programs should be strengthened, protected, and funded to better meet the needs of hungry New Yorkers.

To submit your comments, go to: http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/feedbackform.html.

The Nutrition Consortium will be actively involved in advocating for the 2012 Farm Bill, and will be keeping our network updated as opportunities arise.

Please contact Dawn Secor or by phone at ext 12 for more information, and how you can get involved.

Help Keep CNR on the Move!

From the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC):

All Organizations: Join a sign-on letter to urge Senate leadership to bring a strong and robustly funded Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill to the floor.

By signing on, you help to ensure that a robustly funded and comprehensive child nutrition reauthorization bill is passed before the end of the 111th Congress.

The national, state and community-based organization sign-on letter urges Senate leadership to bring The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, S. 3307, to the Senate floor with the full funding increase proposed by President Obama ($10 billion/10 years) - and the right mix of funding - before passage.

TAKE ACTION:
1.) Join national, state, and community-based organizations from across the country and sign on to the letter. Click here to sign on.

2.) Help create a groundswell of grassroots support at this critical time - encourage others in your network to join the letter. Use our Tell-A-Friend feature to distribute it to your networks and colleagues.

Click here for a PDF version of the letter and the latest list of signatures (updated bi-weekly).

The deadline for the letter is May 28, 2010.