There may still be a lot of winter left but the Illinois State Board of Education is already thinking ahead to the summer break and how children will continue to have access to healthy meals. ISBE is launching the search for new Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sponsors and sites to help bring free nutritious meals to children across the state. School districts, community organizations, churches, camps, park districts, and others helped serve more than 3.1 million meals last summer. There were 133 SFSP sponsors and 1,560 meal sites in 53 of the 102 counties in Illinois. Organizations interested in participating in ISBE’s Summer Food Service Program in 2023 can obtain more information by calling ISBE’s Nutrition Department at 800-545-7892, emailing cnp@isbe.net, or visiting the ISBE SFSP webpage. School Food Authorities can also participate in the similar Seamless Summer Option (SSO) program to provide meals during the summer. SSO is an option for districts already operating the National School Lunch Program. Learn more about ISBE Child Nutrition Programs on the ISBE nutrition page.
