Summer Food Service ProgramTHE CITY OF
DUB ~ E
MasEerpiece on the Mississippi
MEMORANDUM
May 15, 2007
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TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members ~ ~
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FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager cA ~,
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SUBJECT: Summer Food Service Program ~ w
Prescott School and Comiskey Park Playground Sites
On September 26, 2006, the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque YAPPERS, or
Youth Area Philanthropists, sponsored a dinner titled "Raising Awareness about Local
Youth Poverty." The keynote speaker at that dinner was Jean Burgmeier, the Principal
of Fulton Elementary School. Many City staff persons were in attendance at that
meeting, including Neighborhood Development Specialist Jerelyn O'Connor.
Jean Burgmeier talked about the needs of low and moderate income youth in Dubuque.
She specifically talked about when the end of the school year comes, many children are
disappointed that the summer recess is beginning because they lose access to a
consistent nutritious meal. Jerelyn O'Connor took this as a personal challenge.
Jerelyn O'Connor and Leisure Services Manager Gil Spence have worked in
partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Dubuque to provide additional
summer meal sites in conjunction with the City of Dubuque Prescott School and
Comiskey Park Playground Programs.
Neighborhood Development Specialist Jerelyn O'Connor is recommending approval to
expand the Boys and Girls Club Summer Food Service Program to include a site at
Prescott School and Comiskey Park, which will be supervised by the Leisure Services
Department Summer Playground Program staff. The specifics of the program include:
• Meal sites will operate from 11:30 a.m.-12 noon June 11-August 3-meals will be
provided each day the playground program is operating.
• Meals will be served to any child from ages 6-18 who shows up at site at the
designated meal time.
• There will be no charge to the City or children for any meal.
• Boys and Girls Club will prepare nutritious meals and deliver them on site.
• Boys and Girls Club will provide training to summer playground staff.
• City will loan the Boys and Girls Club insulated carriers for transport of meals
The North End Neighborhood Association and the Multicultural Family Center are
supportive of this program.
I want to thank Boys and Girls Club Executive Director Brian Meyer and Boys and Girls
Club Food Service Administrator Dan Reiter for partnering with the City of Dubuque to
provide free meals to needy youth.
The presentation of this concept fits very well with the "Every Child, Every Promise"
initiative, which will be kicked off by Mississippi Valley Promise and the Community
Foundation of Greater Dubuque on Wednesday, May 23, 2007, at 7:30 a.m. at Dubuque
Greyhound Park and Casino.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
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Michael C. Van Milligen
MCVM/jh
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Jerelyn O'Connor, Neighborhood Development Specialist
Gil Spence, Leisure Services Manager
Brian Meyer, Executive Director, Boys and Girls Club
Dan Reiter, Food Service Administrator, Boys and Girls Club
THE CITY OF
DuB E MEMORANDUM
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May 9, 2007
TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Jerelyn O'Connor, Neighborhood Development Specialist
SUBJECT: Summer Food Service Program
Prescott School and Comiskey Park Playground Sites
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this memorandum is to summarize a new collaboration with the Boys
and Girls Club of Greater Dubuque to provide additional summer meal sites in
conjunction with the Prescott School and Comiskey Park playground programs.
BACKGROUND
The USDA Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) was created to ensure that children
in lower-income areas could continue to receive nutritious meals during school
vacations, when they do not have access to school lunch or breakfast. The SFSP is the
single largest Federal resource available for local sponsors who want to combine a
feeding program with a summer activity program.
The Summer Food Service Program is a federal nutrition program administered by the
Iowa Department of Education. The State reimburses program sponsors on a per-meal
basis.
Currently both the Boys and Girls Club and St. Mark Community Center are sponsors
and utilize the Summer Food Service Program to serve meals on site to participants in
their summer programs.
DISCUSSION
City staff determined that Comiskey Park and Prescott School are the two existing
playground sites that serve the largest percentage of youth from families of low and
moderate income. Because of the high need in those neighborhoods, and the fact that
the City has existing morning playground programs at those sites, they were selected
for this pilot program. The Iowa Department of Education determined that both
locations would qualify as open meal sites -open sites operate in low-income areas
where at least half of the youth come from families with incomes qualifying as eligible
for free and reduced lunch.
Staff met with Brian Meyer, Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club to discuss
possibilities of collaborating with the City to provide a meal site at these two locations.
The Boys and Girls Club has been very willing to partner with the City to provide this
benefit to children at the two sites. The Boys and Girls has requested Department of
Education approval to expand their Summer Food Service Program to provide meals at
the Comiskey Park and Prescott School Playground sites. We believe this will enhance
the two playground programs by providing a healthy meal to children participating in the
program. We are very pleased that the Boys and Girls Club is willing to expand their
program to serve additional youth in these neighborhoods.
Specifics of the program:
• Meal sites will operate from 11:30 a.m.-12 noon June 11-August 3-meals will be
provided each day the playground program is operating.
• Meals will be served to any child from ages 6-18 who shows up at site at the
designated meal time.
• There will be no charge to the City or children for any meal.
• Boys and Girls Club will prepare nutritious meals and deliver them on site.
• Boys and Girls Club will provide training to summer playground staff.
• City will loan the Boys and Girls Club insulated carriers for transport of meals
Last week I informed the North End Neighborhood Association and the Multicultural
Family Center about our plans to implement this pilot program this summer. Both
organizations were pleased to hear about the potential of this program serving
neighborhood youth this summer.
BUDGET IMPLICATIONS
Leisure Services Manager Gil Spence estimated an additional cost of approximately
$300 for summer playground program staff and $300 for purchase of several large
insulated coolers/containers for transport of meals and milk. Leisure Services will be
able to absorb this cost through their existing Uptown Recreation and Summer
Recreation Program budgets.
ACTION
City Council is requested to approve this pilot program with the Boys and Girls Club to
expand their Summer Food Service Program to the Prescott School and Comiskey Park
Playground sites.
Cc Gil Spence, Leisure Services Director
Patrick Prevenas, Recreation Program Director
Brian Meyer, Executive Director, Boys and Girls Club
Dan Reiter, Food Service Administrator, Boys and Girls Club
"To lead' :people, ttiralk belzinc~ them." - L,~o Tzr~
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Thank you for joining the YAPPERS to share your time, con-
sideration and community spirit to enliven positive, hopeful
futures for Dubuque youth. This first annual Feed the Need
dinner and silent auction is an actualization of the YAPPERS
Empty Bowls project -the creation and sale of unique pot-
tery bowls to fund-raise for youth-focused grantmaking. The
empty bowl serves as a reminder that poverty and hunger
are constant realities in our own community. Our inspiration
and hope is that we can work together to fill our commu-
nity's empty bowls.
2005-2006 YAPPERS
Stephan Alt Brianna Brimeyer
Maggie Buss Amanda Carew
Will Cushman Brittany Durey
Kwin Keuter Connor Moore
Tripp Ott Dusti Pruszko
Nick Rhomberg Emily Salvaterra
Stefanie Wunderlich Matt Zmudka
1~VELCOME Tt~
FEED Tt~ E NEED 20~~
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5:45 - 6:20 p.m. Check-in, bidding begins
6:20 p.m. Welcome, opening remarks
6:30 p.m. Dinner
Cheese and fruit plate
Caesar salad
Soup served in a bread bowl
~ P~m• jean Burgmeier, Keynote Speaker
Principal, Fulton Elementary School
Student Presentation
Points of Light Institute Graduation
7:35 p.m. Bidding ends, Announcement of winners
A very spe._.I thank you all of our generous sponsors and to all local
businesses that donated giNs for the silent auction.
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A.Y. McDonald
The Greg and Mary Carew family
Duncan Glab
The Metrix Company
Prudential Financial
Janet Rhomberg
Mike and Nancy Van Milligen
Conlon Construction Company
Dubuque Bank & Trust
Hillcrest Family Services
Hy-Vee
William Klauer
Mark and Tammy Moore
Roger and Lisa Ott
James and Nancy Rhomberg
John Burgart
Norma Denlinger
Dubuque Racing Association
Ken Furst
Dick Gregory of Floor Show
John and Mary Gronen
McCullough Creative, Inc.
John and Mary Beth O'Connor
David Salvaterra and Lynne Niznik
Jane Steele
William and Lori Zmudka