Welcome!

Workshop: Innovative Sponsors & Sites: Creative Partnerships and Programming

Moderator: Sharon Johnson

Presenters:Anne Bogan, Bass River, Inc.Janice Knight, Boston Public Libraries – Codman Square BranchShamara Rhodes, Codman Square Neighborhood Council

Brief Introductions! (5 min) Presentation: Anne Bogan (15 min) Presentation: Janice Knight/Shamara Rhodes (15 min) Discussion/Questions (10 min)

Goals for this session:– Prospective sponsors can grasp how others have utilized partners and creative

approaches for their summer meals operation.

– Attendees can brainstorm new partnerships and joint programming ideas in their own community spaces that could boost participation.

Workshop Outline

2www.meals4kids.org

Bass River, Inc.Bridge St Program

Salem, MA

Bass River is a non-profit agency located on the North

Shore providing exceptional community based services to

persons with developmental disabilities

3 years ago we decided to give sponsorship a try…

– Salem was in need of sponsors for underserved &

unsponsored sites, and called upon community

partners for help

– Coincidentally, our new commercial kitchen at 335

Bridge St., had just opened and provided us new

opportunities for paid employment and vocational

training

Who We Are & Who We Serve

2www.meals4kids.org

Our unique staffing model

– By employing our program participants, not only do we

give another avenue of vocational training & paid

employment, but we are reinforce our ethos of

inclusivity in the community

– Our staff is hands-on throughout the entire process…

• Meal planning & resource gathering

• Food prep, weighing & packaging

• Delivery & clean-up

• Community outreach

Bass River’s SFSP Operations

3www.meals4kids.org

Sites used:

– 335 Bridge St: central kitchen & base of delivery

– Forest River Park (closed)

• City sponsored Parks & Rec Summer Camp

• 25-30 meals/day

• Outdoor, high energy

– Salem Public Library (open)

• Downtown

• Theme for the summer

• 15-20 meals/day

• Indoor

4www.meals4kids.org

Operations cont…

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A successful operation should “lean in” to the community

By partnering with local organizations, we are able to

– Collaborate about ideas, events & concerns

– Defray cost & recruit new volunteers

– Outreach to underserved populations

Partnerships create FREE advertising for the program!

– Drive up interest, numbers at open sites

– Word-of-mouth advertising…

• a simple call to the Board of Health turned into a 20 minute call about relinquishing our T.A.R.D.I.S Shephard’s Pie recipe

• Our pizza bagel & grilled cheese entrees were served on Panera’s bread. It created quite a buzz with kids and parents alike!

Community Partnerships

5www.meals4kids.org

Department of Elementary and Secondary Ed (DESE)

– Available online portal contains critical information and blank forms

– Training events

Tabernacle Church UCC

– Ingenious idea of providing granola bars and water bottle to keep curious parents at bay

Bass River Day Program’s Rooftop Garden

– Grow your own (keeps cost down)

– Visited by our hungry kids

Project Bread

– Provided promotional materials, activity packs and prizes

– Awarded grants for promo events and tastings

– Educated site sponsors on food insecurity and income verification Q’s

City of Salem, Parks & Rec and Salem Public Schools

– Welcoming to Bass River and brought partners together

– Mentoring, training and support

– Outreach and On Site Promotion

• Stamp card program: Visit our meal site 10x and get a prize!

Teamwork is Essential

6www.meals4kids.org

Salem Public Library

– Volunteers staff by Tabernacle Church, UCC

– Field trip- local kids came by to tour our gardens and play games

– Utilized the “Summer Reads” Space theme and appropriated pop culture to peak interest

• Jedi Dogs (STARWARS)

• Kang & the Kodos Chicken Salad (The Simpsons)

• Dark Helmut’s Grilled Cheese (Space Balls)

• Menu presentation is just as important as the food itself. We eat with our eyes!

7www.meals4kids.org

Our Partner Sites

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Forest River Park

– Our first kids of the summer

became our taste testers-

giving us tips on what does

or doesn’t work

– Park & Rec staff included

some teenagers, giving us

our most honest critiques yet

– Accommodating a GF lunch

was a cinch

• Our main entrée was as

attractive and adaptable as

possible. This helped save

time and cost

8www.meals4kids.org

Our Partner Sites

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Anne Bogan, Business Manager

(978) 927-5326 x110

ABogan@bassriver-inc.org

Sara Osborn, Job Developer

(978) 741-594-4859

SOsborn@bassriver-inc.org

Contact info

Creative PartnershipsCodman Square Library

& Codman Square Neighborhood Council

– Codman Square Library -

Summer Eats site since

2018. In summer 2019,

served Lunch 12-2 pm and

Snack 4-5 pm, Monday –

Friday.

– Creative

Programming/Partnership

with senior library program,

Senior Arts and Smarts,

which meets year-round on

Tuesday mornings. Senior

Arts and Smarts started in

2015, as a way to engage

seniors in creativity.

Incorporating Existing

Library Programming with Summer Eats

2www.meals4kids.org

– Seniors were excited to work with the children who get summer meals at library.

During lunch early in the summer, the Senior Arts and Smarts group showed their

quilt projects and talked with the children about patterns and quilting history.

– Jewelry Making event – first of two Summer Eats and Senior collaborations, held in

July. Event started at 1:00, and seniors and children made similar style necklaces.

Event was led by local jewelry maker and the room was split between children eating

lunch, making jewelry with seniors, and playing board games with teens.

Programming Collaborations

3www.meals4kids.org

Flower Arranging Event

Senior Arts and Smarts members led

event in August. Event set up was

same as Jewelry Making and children

worked with seniors to organize silk

flowers into arrangements and took

their pieces home.

4www.meals4kids.org

Programming Collaborations

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Summer 2020 plans – Add gardening

boxes event for Summer Eats and

Senior Arts and Smarts participants;

Summer Eats outreach at ice cream

social on last day of school and at

kickoff event in early July for

summer reading program.

– The Codman Square

Neighborhood Council is made up

of residents and community partners

seeking to improve living and

working in Codman Square.

– The Codman Square Market

started in 2009 with BOLD Teens

ensuring no more tobacco in the

stores, healthier eating in the local

corner stores and fresh foods every

week at the markets.

5www.projectbread.org

Codman Square Neighborhood Council

This past summer, BOLD teens collaborated with the Codman Square library to

cover more of a surface to engage with more residents in the community.

This partnership was special because a lot of the residents do occupy the library

on any given day. The activities that our BOLD teens were able to engage in with

different generations have taught them to be thoughtful, responsible and learn

new ways to interact with others.

6www.projectbread.org

Bold Teens & Codman Library Collaboration

Janice Knight

Branch Library Manager

Boston Public Libraries – Codman Square Branch

jknight@bpl.org

Shamara Rhodes

Codman Square Neighborhood Council

Liaison/Manager, Dorchester Farmer’s Markets

shamararrhodes@gmail.com

Questions?Thank you!