CCR-1 Only Local Applicant For Summer Food Service Program

When the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) sent out a call earlier this year for non-profit organizations to serve children food during the summer, Crawford County R-1 was the only that came forward.

The program, which is funded through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and administered by DHSS, aims to ensure that children in underserved areas of the state continue to receive nutritious meals when school ends.

Crawford County R-1 serves breakfast and lunch during summer school, but that program ends this week.

Lisa Cox, communications director with DHSS, told the Independent News that no other sponsors came forward to serve in the Bourbon area.

“In February, we send out a press release requesting non-profit sponsors to apply, and we send outreach letters to non-profit organizations all through Missouri in hopes to get others involved,” Cox said in an email.

The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) reimburses organizations for meals they serve to children under the age 18.

Schools, faith-based organizations, camps, private nonprofit agencies and local government entities qualify if they are located in areas where at least half of the children are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals.

Data from the USDA shows that Crawford County R-1 is often the only provider.

In 2021, Lasting Hope Assembly of God successfully applied, serving a week’s worth of meals every Thursday from the time school ended to the beginning of the new school year that August.

The story is similar in Sullivan and Cuba, where the schools were the only organizations that applied. Like Bourbon, those food programs will end this week.