Summer Food Service Program Sponsors
The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, provides cash reimbursements to sponsoring agencies that serve nutritious meals to low-income children or to children living in low-income areas throughout Ohio.
SFSP connects children with the nutrition they need to help them be healthy and ready to learn when they return to school. Group meal sites for children, and to-go and delivered meals in rural communities, provide new opportunities to fight child hunger.
The program is administered at the state level by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Organizations participating in the SFSP must be a public or private non-profit school food authority; a public or private non-profit college or university that is currently participating in the National Youth Sports Program; a public or private non-profit residential summer camp; a unit of local, municipal, county, Tribal or State government; or any other type of private non-profit organization. For-profit organizations are not eligible to be a sponsor under this program.
Sponsors must be organizations that are fully capable of managing a meal service program, follow regulations, and be responsible, financially and administratively, for operating the Program. Organizations that do not have the financial or administrative capability to manage the Program and for-profit organizations, can participate by hosting a site. By hosting a site, the organization supervises a meal service for children, along with any recreational or enrichment activities at that site.
General Program Requirements
Conduct a Non-Profit Food Service
Sponsors must operate food services through SFSP that are not for-profit. A sponsor is operating a nonprofit food service if the food service operations are principally for the benefit of participating children and all Program reimbursement funds are used solely for the operation or improvement of the SFSP.
Demonstrate Financial and Administrative Capability
Potential and returning sponsors must demonstrate that they have the necessary financial and administrative capability to comply with Program requirements. They must accept final financial and administrative responsibility for all their sites.
Serve Low-Income Children
Sponsors must agree to provide regularly scheduled meal service for children in designated low-income areas (called “areas in which poor economic conditions exist”), or for sites that qualify as a camp or a conditional non-congregate site.
Summer Food Meal Gaps
Potential sponsors and community partners can use the Ohio Meal Gaps Map to identify areas of need where the organization could run a successful meal service program for children.
Areas in green signify the census block groups eligible to participate in the summer meal program as open sites. Areas may also qualify if located in the attendance area of a school in which at least 50 percent of the enrolled children are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals under the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program.
Users may toggle the layers of the map to view the eligibility status for potential areas, information for sites operating in the prior program year, and the rural eligibility to participate in non-congregate, or the “grab and go” meal flexibility.
Sponsoring organizations wishing to provide meal services in areas that are not eligible through either census or school data may do so as closed enrolled sites, which are open only to enrolled children, as opposed to the community at large, and in which at least 50 percent of the enrolled children at the site are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals.
For questions on eligibility for potential site locations, please contact the Office of Nutrition.
For organizations wishing to serve as a potential site for the Summer Food Service Program, please contact a sponsor in your area.
Applying to the Program
To begin the application process, complete the survey to inform the Department of your organization’s interest in sponsoring the SFSP: Potential New SFSP Sponsor Survey. The survey is open annually from Oct. 1 – May 15.
If eligible to apply, the organization will be provided information on the preapplication process and must demonstrate financial viability and management; administrative capability; and internal controls for program accountability (VCA). To help prepare, review the documents that will be requested to complete this step:
It is recommended to collect these documents early to prepare for the application.
Approval Timeline
- Preapplication (VCA Assessment): 30-60 days
- Payment and Application Portal Access: 10-14 days
- Online Application: 14-21 days
Note: Online application packets must be submitted no later than 10 calendar days prior to the first meal service day, or June 15, whichever comes first. See the Summer Food Service Program Application Deadlines Policy
- Preapproval: 14-21 days
- Approval: 5-7 days
Program Operator Trainings
Virtual SFSP training is available to interested and returning sponsors of the Summer Food Service Program and will provide an overview of the entire program including the application, compliance, and recordkeeping requirements. All trainings are 9 a.m. - noon. Select the preferred date to register for the event.
The Rural Non-Congregate Option for Summer Meal Program Operators
Certain rural areas can now distribute nutritious meals to kids outside of the typically required group (congregate) settings through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO). Approved program operators in low income, rural areas can use alternate service models that are tailored to the needs of the children and communities they serve. This training will cover the allowable flexibilities provided, regulatory requirements, application process, and best practices for rural meals using the non-congregate flexibility, or "grab and go" style meals.
For questions on the rural non-congregate option please contact Elizabeth Douglass.
Explore the Ohio SFSP webpage to learn more.
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
Non-Discrimination Statement
Last Modified: 4/1/2025 12:15:49 PM