Promote Summer Meals

Thanks to the generous support of the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation, No Kid Hungry has created a summer meals outreach toolkit to help you get the word out to families. A range of ready-made promotional materials are available to help publicize summer meals in your community. Use these resources to maximize the impact of outreach efforts in schools, faith communities, community organizations and online.

Schools can spread the word about summer meals through:

• Direct outreach to parents, such as:
  • Robocalls
  • Newsletters
  • Website
  • Social media
  • Materials sent home with students, such as a letter to parents or FAQ document on summer meals
• Direct outreach to students, such as:
  • Morning or afternoon announcements
  • Flyers or posters in common areas
  • Social media
  • Partnership with the parent-teacher association

Visit the Summer Meals Research section to learn more about the survey results and parents' perspectives on summer meals.

Direct outreach to congregations, such as:

• Flyers or posters in common areas
• Newsletters or bulletin announcements
• Information about summer meals on the website

Engagement with other local faith leaders, such as:

• Sharing information about programs and inviting youth from other congregations to participate
• Coordinating faith summits or gatherings to educate the faith community about summer meals programming

Community-based organizations have a range of options to initiate or expand their outreach efforts:

• Work with the state agency to map existing summer meals sites in the community in order to target areas for outreach or promotion.
• Conduct a neighborhood canvassing event with volunteer organizations or other local partners.
• Put up outreach materials that promote summer meals in locations across the community: parks and recreation centers, libraries, community health centers, public transportation centers, public housing complexes, childcare facilities, houses of worship, grocery/convenience stores, barber shops, hair salons, food pantries, and other government offices delivering social services.

For community groups interested in becoming a summer meals sponsor or site, it is important to learn the basics of the program and engage with the administering state agency to learn how to get started.

The information that you decide to provide will depend on your services and your audience, but options include:

• Stories or statistics demonstrating the need for summer meals, like No Kid Hungry’s 2013 survey results
• Best practices or stories from successful programs
• Details about your organization’s programs that serve summer meals
• Information about other local summer programs that offer meals, particularly those that are drop-in sites open to all children

You can spread the word through:

• A FAQ section on your website
  • It may also be helpful to share this information with state agency partners and other community organizations.
• A direct link from your website to social media sites where up-to-date program information is available
• Summer meals-related social media posts shared directly with your network or by local leaders
• Videos, photos, and other digital content shared with your online network
• Facebook ads that include your website, phone number, and information about when and where meals are served

Engage Elected Officials

As elected officials return home during the summer months, a visit to a local summer meals site will reinforce the importance of these programs and increase buy-in from these leaders to ensure that all children have access to meals in the summertime. Arranging a site visit provides an opportunity for these officials to directly engage with constituents and better understand how your work is building resilience within the community.

• Summer Site Visit Toolkit: The No Kid Hungry campaign has prepared a toolkit to help your organization facilitate these events. This toolkit provides planning timelines, template communication and publicity materials, and tips for executing a successful event highlighting the importance of summer meals to elected officials and other local influencers.

Work with the Media

• Summer Message Playbook: No Kid Hungry’s Communications Team has collected tips, best practices, and customizable assets from experts around the country to provide you the tools you need to get the right people to take the right actions at the right time to boost program participation and awareness. The Summer Outreach Playbook is your one-stop shop to build and implement your own strategic communications plan to get the word out to children and families about summer meals.