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Supervisors back $885,127 summer meals grant; chair presses to add OMI rec site
Summary
The Budget & Finance subcommittee voted to forward an ordinance and grant acceptance that would add seasonal staff and authorize a USDA-funded $885,127 grant for the Mayor's Summer Food Service and After School Snack programs; Chair John Avalos pressed staff to ensure the renovated Minnie and Lovie Ward recreation center is included as a summer lunch site.
The Budget & Finance subcommittee unanimously moved to forward an ordinance that would add seasonal staff and accept a $885,127 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant (passed through the California Department of Education) to support the 2009 Mayor's Summer Food Service Program and After School Snack Program.
Department of Children, Youth and Their Families representative Liz Halbert told supervisors the program is designed to fill the gap when school meals are not available. In partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District and the San Francisco Food Bank, Halbert said the city served about 5,200 lunches and 2,600 snacks per day last summer at roughly 100 sites and added nutrition and physical‑activity education, recycling and composting, locally grown produce three days a week, and a soda‑free policy at many sites. Halbert also announced a new Summer Employment and Empowerment program that will place youth at 15 public housing developments to work and learn about the food system.
"We have to make sure that that site is a priority with Rec and Park to open that center," said Chair Supervisor John Avalos, referring to the newly renovated Minnie and Lovie Ward recreation center in the Oceanview‑Merced‑Ingleside (OMI) neighborhood. Avalos said it would be "a shame" if hundreds of children using the site did not have access to summer lunches.
Halbert said DCYF staff had contacted neighborhood services and the OMI Family Resource Center and were working with Rec and Park staff to prioritize placing Minnie and Lovie Ward on the summer meal list. Robert Holland, speaking during public comment as a representative of SEIU Local 1021, said rec‑director hours had been cut and some sites were judged inappropriate for the program, and he urged the city to enable rec staff to provide meals.
The budget analyst recommended a technical change to add the seasonal positions to the 2009–10 annual salary ordinance rather than the 2008–09 ordinance; committee members agreed the controller's office should amend the ordinance as needed if the grant and positions are approved by the full board. The committee forwarded the item to the full board with recommendation.
Next steps: the full Board of Supervisors will consider the ordinance and grant acceptance; the committee asked staff to make the OMI recreation center a priority for placement on the summer meal site list.
