Summit School District #54-6
Project Summary

The Summit School District’s project focus is to provide healthy and free meals to children 18 years and younger in the community by implementing the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) in the community. The rural community of Summit, South Dakota with the population of 287 people has limited access to healthy food for children, especially during the summer months.

The barriers this community faces are: location- Summit is located in Roberts County and on the Lake Traverse Reservation and has very limited food resources. The closest grocery store for community members to purchase produce is 23 miles away.

Which leads into the next barrier of accessibility to food. Because of the distance of grocery stores in the area, and a number of families living below the Federal Poverty Level, the only time some children are able to access healthy meals is when school is in session leaving many children vulnerable to hunger during the weekends and the summer months.

This project will also need to overcome the barrier of the stigma of receiving free meals. Some families may feel if their child participates in the Summer Food Service Program they are labeled as “lower income.”

Though the RCPNC grant project, we will use funds to market, and collaborate with local summer enrichment programs and organizations to educate the community and break down the stigma barrier, and work together with district officials to provide knowledgeable staff, bus transportation, and facilities to operate the Summer Food Service Program. We will also work with partners such as the local church’s Back PACH (Parents Against Childhood Hunger) program, which provides food to children during the weekends, and work together to increase the accessibility and sustainability of the program. Through these efforts, it is our goal to implement the Summer Food Service Program permanently into the Summit community, reducing the number of children who go hungry during the summer months.

Target Nutrition Assistance Programs: SFSP, Back PACH (Parents Against Childhood Hunger)