Applications closed for 2021 Rapid Response: NC Farm to Summer Funding

Awardee info here!

Original RFP:

In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our communities and schools, The Farm to School Coalition of NC (F2SCNC) and the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) want to honor the dedication of School Nutrition Programs, Educators, and community organizations to meet the nutritional and educational needs of our children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because we believe Farm to School (F2S) contributes to both the wellbeing of our kids and to community food security, we seek to support our partners in meeting urgent needs and building farm to school capacity.

The F2SCNC and CEFS are offering farm to summer support funding of $1000 to $2000 (variable depending on numbers served) to School Local Education Authorities (LEAs) and Community Organization Sponsors operating N.C. Summer Nutrition Programs to feed children in need. We will distribute up to 20 mini-grants for up to $40,000 total. To receive the funding, each applicant must meet the eligibility requirements, agree to the recipient responsibilities, and submit a short application by April 19th.

READ all below information before applying.

for printable version of this information, LINKS to PDFs:

2021 TIMELINE:

  • April 19th – online APPLICATIONS DUE (questions or access issues to tes thraves tes_thraves@ncsu.edu; we estimate less than 1 hour to complete)
  • April 21st – applicants notified by this date or possibly sooner
  • 3pm, April 23rd – all FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATIVE PAPERWORK DUE, including W-9 forms, direct deposit information, and invoices
  • July 15th – funds delivered to recipients
  • July 19th-23rd – all recipients celebrate Farm to Summer week
  • July 28th(or tbd) –  cohort call (1 hour) for all 2021 Rapid Response NC Farm to Summer Funding
  • September 24th – summary report due to include a description of how the funds were used, a brief narrative of activities and impacts, and 3-5 photos and/or a video of the project

ELIGIBILITY

Applicants must participate in 2021 National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, or Seamless Summer Option, or Summer Food Service Program in North Carolina and can be either

  •  An approved Community Organization Sponsor for Summer Food Service Programs who are a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization or have a secured entity (fiscal agent, community organization, 501(c)3 org, etc) that can receive and disburse the funds, OR
  • North Carolina K-12 Local Education Agencies (LEAs)–public school districts and charter schools.

SELECTION

Funding awards will be based on eligibility, activities that fit in the following categories, and the extent to which you address the priority areas.

  • Activities fit within the following categories (addressing one is sufficient and you may do more):
    • local food purchasing for summer meals or children connection to local food/farmers,
    • local food infrastructure (human or built) to better incorporate local foods and/or strengthen below priority areas (equipment, trainings, team development, new partnerships, etc),
    • local food promotion of local summer produce, local farmers from whom you are procuring food, and/or benefits to the community and environment of local purchasing,
    • local foods educational programming (gardens, cooking, other education efforts) in ways that increase the skills, knowledge, and connection to local foods for children and families.

PRIORITY AREAS (ideally all three areas will be addressed through your chosen activity/ies)

    • Establishing and Addressing high need. You will define and explain your assessment of high need in your school, for your children, in your community. You might define by the potential number of low-income, highly vulnerable children to be reached; potential impact of farm to school and community connections through the project; stretched capacity of the LEA and/or School Nutrition/Summer Nutrition Program; and/or other determinants created by COVID-19.
    • Building long-term capacity in farm to school through relationship/team building, infrastructure development, environmental efforts, policy development. See Building Capacity in Farm to School handout with suggestions and resources.
    • Advancing Racial Equity through developing policies, presentations, partnerships, and trainings, as well as other approaches. See Advancing Racial Equity in Farm to School handout with suggestions and resources.

AWARDEE RESPONSIBILITIES:

  1. Submit a completed application on time:A completed application is submitted by 5pm on Monday, April 19th, 2021.
  2. Submit complete financial documentation on time: All administrative paperwork, including W-9 forms, direct deposit information, and invoice due by 3pm on Friday, April 23rd.
  3. Conduct activities during summer and celebrate Farm to Summer Week, July 19th-23rd
  4. Collective Engagement: Awardees will participate in a collective call soon after Farm to Summer week, to share learnings and ideas on f2s capacity building priorities for the state.
  5. Complete a short evaluation:The awardee completes a brief report of the project by Friday, September 24th, 2021. The final report should take no more than 1 hour to complete and includes a description of how the funds were used, a brief narrative of activities and impacts, and 3-5 photos or a video of the project.

TO APPLY: 

Please submit the online form by 5pm on Monday, April 19th, 2021. (estimated 1 hour to complete)

GRANTEE Financial PAPERWORK:

Past funding recipients – If your LEA or Community Organization is a past recipient of funding from CEFS or the F2SCNC, our team will confirm that the information we have on record is accurate and request any other necessary information.

New funding recipients – New recipients will receive guidance on completing paperwork including a W9 and ACH form using Sharebase, a safe online platform for sharing sensitive information. We will ask you to complete and upload these forms along with a voided check or direct deposit authorization form to your Sharebase folder. These forms should reflect the organization who will receive the funds.

Questions?

Financials questions: Access to ShareBase will be sent to you by Dallas Goodnight, dlgoodni@ncsu.edu and any questions about financial documentation and payments can also go to Dallas directly—subject line 2021 farm to summer funding.

Programatic and Application questions – Send general application questions, concerns, or queries to tes_thraves@ncsu.edu—subject line 2021 farm to summer funding.

The Farm to Summer initiative encourages N.C. Summer Nutrition Programs to serve local foods as part of meals and snacks offered to children, teach about local agriculture to children participating in summer meals programs, post about Farm to Summer activities on social media and sign up for the N.C. Crunch to promote Farm to School Month in October. A Farm to Summer toolkit with tips and resources is available from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, School Nutrition Services.

In 2020, We provided 18 LEAs with $4,000 in funding to support urgent need and long term capacity building. See more about the 2020 Rapid Response farm to school funding.

The Farm to School Coalition of North Carolina (F2SCNC) brings together a group of farm to school (F2S) stakeholders that collaborate to expand and strengthen farm to school initiatives across the state.  F2SCNC envisions a vibrant and robust food system whereby everyone affiliated with the school community has knowledge of and access to locally produced, nutritious foods, resulting in healthier citizens, communities, and economies.

 

We thank Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of North Carolina for making this response possible and for their continued support of farm to school as a strategy for both wellness and community food security.