Summer Food Service Program – in the middle of winter?

That question is a common one when we talk about the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). During the school year, many children receive free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch through the School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs. What happens when school lets out? Hunger is one of the most severe roadblocks to the learning process. The Summer Food Service Program is designed to fill that nutrition gap and make sure children can get the nutritious meals they need.

Families in Natchez, Mississippi know how to get moving outside, and make the most of the special places in their community. The Mississippi River Connections Collaboration, which includes the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service, recently hosted “Let’s Move Outside Southwest Mississippi,” a daylong celebration of healthy, outdoor recreation. Hundreds of people from Adams and surrounding counties came to Natchez – a city of roughly 20,000 people along the Mississippi River – to participate in multiple activities and explore the area’s famous historical sites.

Getting 60 minutes of play every day is important and yesterday students from several Washington, DC elementary schools got their 60 minutes on the south lawn at the White House. As part of the ongoing South Lawn Series, players from the DC United soccer team led the kids in drills and games, showing them just how fun exercise can be. The students ran, jumped, kick soccer balls and ended the day with apples as a healthy snack.

Yesterday I joined a wonderful group of elementary school students, principals and school staff at Lincoln Park in Washington, DC to celebrate “International Walk to School Day”. Now in its 13th year, this one-day event was part of a global effort in more than 40 countries to recognize the many benefits of walking and bicycling to school and to encourage more families to get out of the car and onto their feet in October.