9/21/98
ATHENS, Ohio -- Kids on Campus has been named by the Midwest division of the Summer Food Program as their nominee to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the national Sunshine Award. The award, which will be announced in November, is given to the most innovative program providing summer meals to children in areas of need. Nominees from seven regional divisions are competing for the award.
"We feel very honored to be nominated," said Angie Cantrell, director of Kids on Campus. "The nutritional part of our program is something we heavily focus on, and we feel that the food program is really a catapult to other things. By participating, the children also are getting a social and educational experience."
Kids on Campus began in 1996 to help meet the need for nutritious meals and educational summer programming for Athens County elementary schoolchildren. The program has grown in members as well as in the variety of services it offers to families. The community partnership initiative is a collaboration of five school districts, Ohio University, Hocking College and numerous county, state and federal agencies. Participating school districts are Athens, Nelsonville-York, Alexander, Federal Hocking and Trimble. Ohio University and Hocking College host the program on their campuses and provide services such as hearing, vision and physical screenings and hands-on programming for the children and their parents.
"Kids on Campus was selected because of its unique collaboration among rural agencies to provide needy children with nutritious meals and educational experiences," said Laura Pernice, assistant director of Child Nutrition Services for the Ohio Department of Education.
The Ohio Summer Food Service Program, which recently completed its third year of support for Kids on Campus, is offered during school vacation periods and administered nationally by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service and the Ohio Department of Education. It was established to ensure that children in needy areas could continue to receive nutritious meals during school vacations that are comparable to those served under the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs during the academic year. Summer Food Service Program funding assists Kids on Campus in providing catered breakfasts and lunches through Ohio University Baker Catering. Funds also are provided by Bob Evans Farms.