SMOC Sample Application for Grant Use

(Champions for Healthy Kids Grant Application Template)

Organization and Contact Info

Name of Applicant: Jamie Dannenberg

Credentials: MS, RD, LDN

Academy member number:

Phone Number:

Title: Dietitian

Email: JDannenberg@smoc.org

Organization Name: SMOC

Tax ID: xx

Tax Status: 501(c)(13)

Street Address: 7 Bishop Street, Framingham, MA 01702

Organization Website Address: www.smoc.org

Organization Mission Statement: ​To improve the quality of life of low-income and
disadvantaged individuals and families by advocating for their needs and rights;
providing services; educating the community; building a community of support;
participating in coalitions with other advocates and searching for new resources
and partnerships.

Proposed Project Information

Project Name: Framingham Summer Park Series

Project Description (no more than 200 words): Framingham Summer Park Series is a
series of child-focused activities at a park in Framingham where Summer Food Service
Program meals are served as well. The goal of the program is to increase child
participation in the Summer Food Service Program. During the summer of 2020, one
park will pilot this project.

Project Start Date: May 1, 2020

Project End Date: August 31, 2020

Requested Amount: $4,000

Number of Children Impacted: 4,831

City or area Served: Framingham

State Served: MA

Percent below Poverty: 4.6%

Percent Qualified for Free Meals: 55% of students

Race/Ethnicity % estimates for each race/ethnic group:

White Non-Hispanic: 67%
Black Non-Hispanic: 6.8%
Hispanic: 14.8%
Asian: 8.2%
Other: 3.2%

Target Population Need (Why does your target population need the proposed project?
What value will it have for them?):

Our target population are children eligible for free or reduced meals, who receive them
at school during the school year. However, the school year participation numbers are
higher than those participating in the summer. We hope to increase participation in the
local summer meals program to close the gap and reduce food insecurity.

Project Goal (What is your general project goal?): Our general goal is to increase child
participation in the Summer Food Service Program in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Project Objectives:
 A. From May 2020 – August 2020, Framingham Public Schools/Project Bread will
distribute promotional materials to children and hang posters in May and June for
the summer meal site to increase the participation of children in the summer
meals program. This will increase child participation by 25% by the end of the
summer.
B. On the last day of school, the site will put on a “Kick Off” event at the local high
school to get the children and parents excited about the summer meal program.
This will include special guests, music entertainment, art activities, and games. It
will provide the families with the summer schedule and any necessary
information. This event will increase child participation by 25% from the year
prior.
C. During the Summer Food Service Program, the open meal site will be located at
a local Framingham “parks and rec” facility. This will allow the site to be more
accessible to participants, decrease the stigma of participating in the SFSP as
measured by parent survey and focus groups.
D. During the Summer Food Service Program, the meal site will offer fun activities
such as: arts and crafts, and sports games like soccer and basketball. This will
increase child participation by 25% by the end of the summer.

Partners (what partners or collaborators will you involve and what will their specific role
be in your proposed project?):

Project Bread: outreach, data collection

Framingham Public Schools: collaboration, contact point

Framingham, MA parks and rec department: activity instructors

Primary Target Audience (age or grade of children): Children grades K-12

Secondary Target Audience: N/A

Primary Project or Program Setting (for example, school, community setting such as
parks & recreation): Community parks and recreation, Furber Park in Framingham, MA.

Needs Assessment (What evidence data or needs assessment results do you have that
show a strong need for your project?):
 1. Parent Survey
2. Observation: ​We will observe the meal site for eight days this coming June. There
will be four evaluators, each of which will attend the meal site one day during the
first running week of the meal site, and one day during the second running week.
Evaluators will observe the average age of the kids attending the meal site. This
is important because the free meals at the meal sites are technically offered to
children up to 18 years of age. Using this information from observations, we can
decide which age groups to target in order to increase awareness and
participation in the summer meals program. Along with the participating children’s
ages, another point of observation the evaluators will note will be who
accompanies children to the meal sites. Specifically, whether children attend in
groups, with a parent, with a caregiver, or with a sibling. Evaluators will simply
keep tallies as best as possible to observe this feature. Finally, when observing
the meal site, evaluators will ask those distributing the meals to keep track of
amounts of meals given each day. Once the evaluation period has ended, these
numbers will be added together to determine if certain days and/or meals are
better attended.
3. Focus Groups: We will hold focus groups with those who serve the kids at the
meal sites once monthly, from May to August for a total of four focus groups.
Each focus group will be an hour long and meals will be served. The main topics
at these focus groups will focus on barriers to the SFSP, favorite/least favorite
meals served, favorite/least favorite activities of children, ways to improve SFSP,
and any other relevant topics that may come up. The May focus group will occur
before the beginning of the season’s SFSP, and the August focus group will
occur at the end of the month after the program has closed for the season.

Outcomes (Identify one or more specific healthy eating and physical activity outcomes
that are likely to be produced by successful completion of your project. Your answer
should identify behaviors that will be changed for each of your target groups. Short
phrases are preferred to full sentences for this item. Note: The outcome you describe
should be consistent with the outcomes identified in your project objectives.):

- 25% increase in participation from 2019 to 2020

- 25% increase in participation from June 2020 to August 2020

Learning Theory (describe the behavioral learning theory or framework that supports the
proposed intervention and identify how results from this project will contribute to the
body of information in the areas of public health, dietetics, nutrition behaviors, physical
activity, health promotion and/or disease or obesity prevention.)

Social cognitive learning theory focuses on how social influences and environment
affect behavior and incorporates past experiences. We will have focus groups that
explore activity perceptions of children in-depth, in addition to designing the program in
a way that all children at a site for an activity will receive a free meal.

Proposed Methods and Sustainability

Information Delivery (describe the method(s) of information delivery for your project,
who will do what to/with whom? Specify the content and number of lessons or activities
and the total number of contact hours provided to your target group. Explain why you
selected this method using related research or best practice examples as support.):

Activities will run for four hours daily for eight weeks during weekdays, for a total of 160
contact hours at SFSP sites. This is based on the Medford, MA summer activity
program.

Family Involvement (describe how families of children in your target group will be
involved): Parents of children will be contacted at the beginning of the school year via a
survey about the SFSP program. In addition, parents will be included in the kick-off
event and will receive promotional materials.

Participants (explain how participants will be recruited and retained in your proposed
project or program): Participants will be educated via materials and the kick-off events
at Framingham Public Schools. Activities will help to promote the program and involve
more children.

Evaluation

Outcome evaluation is a required part of this grant. It is crucial that we are able to
identify what was accomplished as a result of your project. You will need to identify the
extent to which you achieved your program objectives.
Evaluation Methods (what type(s) of outcome evaluation methods and tools will you use
that address the program goals, for example surveys, interviews, observations, logs,
etc. Explain how the evaluation tools were selected potentially addressing reliability,
validity, cultural relevance, best practice, etc. Describe what behaviors your evaluation
components will assess. For example, number of times children eat fruit and vegetables
per day, frequency of breakfast consumption, minutes of physical activity per day.):

​ bjective A:​ From May 2020 – August 2020, Framingham Public Schools/Project
O
Bread will distribute promotional materials to children and hang posters in May and
June for the summer meal site to increase the participation of children in the summer
meals program. This will increase child participation by 25% by the end of the summer.
Evaluation A: Both child participation and amount of meals given out will be
measured via attendance daily at sites during the summer of 2019 and the
summer of 2020. Participation and meals from the last week of 2020 will be
compared to SFSP attendance rates during both the first week of 2020, the first
week of 2019, and the last week of 2019.

Objective B:​ On the last day of school, the site will put on a “Kick Off” event at the local
high school to get the children and parents excited about the summer meal program.
This will include special guests, music entertainment, art activities, and games. It will
provide the families with the summer schedule and any necessary information. This
event will increase child participation by 25% from the year prior.
Evaluation B: Average 2019 attendance rate will be compared to average 2020
attendance rate at the SFSP. Daily attendance and amount of meals given out will
be measured daily at SFSP sites during the summer of 2019 and 2020.

Objective C:​ During the Summer Food Service Program, the open meal site will be
located at a local Framingham “parks and rec” facility. This will allow the site to be more
accessible to participants and decrease any existing stigma of participating in the SFSP.
Evaluation C: Focus groups with those distributing the foods will discuss
accessibility and stigma in depth. In addition, a survey will be administered to
parents prior to the beginning of both summer 2019 and 2020 addressing barriers
to SFSP, including accessibility and stigma. Results will be recorded and
considered.
Objective D:​ During the Summer Food Service Program, the meal site will offer fun
activities such as: arts and crafts, and sports games like soccer and basketball. This
will increase child participation by 25% by the end of the summer.
Evaluation D: Meals given out will be recorded during summer 2019 and both
meals and attendance will be measured daily during 2020, and compared. Great
consideration will be given to the most successful activities at each site, as
determined by evaluation observation and focus groups.

Evaluation Tool Administration (who will complete each of the evaluation tools you listed
in the previous item and indicate at what point during the project evaluation will occur,
for example baseline, midpoint, endpoint and/or process evaluation?):

Summer 2020:

Baseline: parent survey

Process evaluation: focus groups, child attendance, meal records

Endpoint: Data evaluation

Data Analysis (describe how the data collected will be analyzed):

Child attendance and meal records will be compared from endpoint to baseline, as well
as from 2020 baseline to 2019 baseline. Focus group data will be compiled and
analyzed for themes. Parent surveys will be compared between 2019 and 2020
answers.

Evaluator (Indicate whether your evaluator is an internal employee or an external

consultant and describe their expertise and experience level regarding planning and
implementing the evaluation component.): Our evaluator is from SMOC and is
experienced in implementing evaluation.
Program Evidence(describe how the proposed program is supported by the evidence of
prior/current program success and/or the potential for the program to continue.)

Medford Parks and Rec implemented a similar program with great success. In addition,
Project Bread, Summer Eats MA, and USDA (among other organizations) recommend
this strategy to increase participation in SFSP.

Financials

Project Proposed Budget (numerical): $4,000

Project Expenses Explanation (How will the funds from this grant award be utilized and
can this project succeed without additional funding?):

This project needs funding to begin. However, after a year of funding, hopefully a
curriculum could be created that best meets the needs of the community and can be
used yearly.

Please provide specifics on how the funds will be spent:

Supplies: $100

Instructors: $3520

Incidentals: $480

Total: $4000

*Budget adapted from Medford SFSP & Parks and Rec Program