The over 300,000 Floridians who qualify for SNAP (food stamps) now face a work requirement which took effect on January 1st, 2017. Particularly in rural communities where jobs are far and few between, this new requirement threatens the ability for many to feed their families. State Senators Bill Montford and Dwight Bullard have spoken out against reinstating the work requirement saying that state is diverse and economic standing varies.

“Especially in North Florida, in these rural counties that I represent, they have not felt this economic revival that people talk about,” Montford said. “Unemployment is still high. The jobs are not there. … The needs the SNAP program meets, I would say the needs in these rural counties are just as great as they were in 2009.”

“They’re being penalized even though they’re trying, even though their effort is good,” Bullard said.

Read more on this news in the Tampa Bay Business Journal and find your elected officials to tell them this new work requirement is unjust.

As recently shared in a post from the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida blog, Second Harvest’s Kids Cafe Afterschool Supper Program began offering fresh, nutritious meals and snacks to children at four different Orange County Parks and Recreation Centers. This follows months and months of planning and efforts by Central Florida partners, including Florida Impact’s very own Kim Mowatt. To learn more about this exciting development, make sure to read the full post on the blog of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.

On January 24th, the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (FDACS) and Florida Impact co-hosted the Annual Summer BreakSpot Partners Meeting at six locations across Florida and via webinar. Over 250 community leaders representing nearly 150 organizations, agencies, and elected officials attended this robust event, where current and prospective Summer BreakSpot sponsors and partners shared best practices from 2016 and planned for the summer ahead.

Download the PowerPoint presentation and view a complete list of participating organizations. The presentation includes excellent resources and models including information about summer programming partnerships with law enforcement agencies and hospitals, social media strategies, mid-summer spike events, and more!

Congratulations to the winners of the Summer BreakSpot Challenge: The Christian Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, Pasco County Schools, Feeding South Florida, Duval County Schools, Jackson County Schools, Feeding the Gulf Coast, Alachua County Schools, and FLIPANY were recognized for their outstanding work by FDACS Deputy Commissioner Alan Edwards.

Meeting resources:

• The meeting agenda

• Answers to the meeting Q&A segment (with references to the Summer Site Meal Gap Data as of 1-25-17; Summer Site Meal Gap Analysis; SFSP, NSLP, and SSO Comparison Chart; and the Share Our Strength Summer Meals Study),

• FDACS’ “Roll in, Eat up” Mobile BreakSpot Guide

• MUSC’s Guide to Serving Meals in Health Care Institutions

• Information about the DoD Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program

• Find information about the Florida Afterschool Meals Program at www.FloridaAfterschoolMeals.org and on the AMP page of the Florida Department of Health website.

• The National Anti-Hunger Organizations’ (NAHO) sign-on letter to support and safeguard the Federal nutrition programs (see current list of signers).

Partnering with the Hillsborough County School District and Feeding Tampa Bay this summer, Florida Impact focused on expanding mobile unit site locations to housing authorities and low-income housing complexes. In addition to a healthy meal, other community partners visited the site such as Dodgeball 2 You bringing exercise and lessons on how to handle bullying, the Hillsborough County Fire and Rescue Department with fire safety and a tour of the firetruck, and Hispanic Services Council teaching healthy eating.