New Jersey Child Nutrition Fund
New Jersey Child Nutrition Fund (NJCNF) offers resources to organizations working to expand the availability of fresh and nutritious food to children across the state of New Jersey. The program focuses on building the infrastructure for organizations to provide meals through federal nutrition programs, supporting the families they serve and helping to combat the impact of COVID-19 on hunger in New Jersey.
Federal child nutrition programs offer key resources for states and organizations to address child food insecurity, yet New Jersey and other states access only a portion of available funding each year. NJCNF came out of research in 2018 by Reinvestment Fund and Advocates for Children of New Jersey recognizing the challenges of participating in federal child nutrition programs, and the need to invest in the organizations participating in these programs.
The program is administered by Reinvestment Fund in partnership with Hunger Free New Jersey and supported by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Statewide CACFP and SFSP Support Grants
To assist existing and expanded programs in 2022, support grants of up to $20,000 total will be available for organizations participating in CACFP or Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) to focus on providing meals for children outside of traditional school hours. Grant funds can be used for equipment, and up to $10,000 of the total award amount can be used to support general meal program needs such as staffing, materials and supplies, and food costs. Organizations who are currently considering starting a new program in 2022 are encouraged to apply now, and your award may be held until nutrition program participation is confirmed.
Eligibility:
- Organizations who participate, or are seeking to participate in CACFP and/or SFSP
- Organization located and serving children in New Jersey
- Sponsors, sites and meal vendors
- For profit and nonprofit organizations
Priority Considerations:
- New sponsors in 2022
- New or expanded programs in 2022
- Organizations in a priority community (listed below)
- First-time recipients of an NJCNF grant from Reinvestment Fund
The application will be available from late May, 2022, through August 31, 2022, with a priority round deadline for SFSP projects on June 15th, 2022, and a priority round deadline for CACFP projects on July 29th, 2022 . (Organizations are encouraged to apply early and a maximum of 10 projects may be awarded after each priority round deadline. All applicants will receive a notification by Sept
ember 30). Interested applicants should review this FAQ and create an account to apply through our grants portal here.
Application Guidance
- Application Portal
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for NJCNF Support Grants
- NJCNF Support Grants: Smart Simple Application Portal Registration Guide
- NJCNF Support Grant Application Tutorial Video (coming soon)
NJCNF Priority Communities
Many community providers come together to make sure that all children have access to healthy, nutritious meals in their homes and communities throughout each day, week and year. This network of stakeholders includes childcare providers, after-school programs and community centers, school administrators, food pantries and food banks, city officials, community and faith leaders, and more. Organizations can participate in federal child nutrition program such as the CACFP and/or SFSP , along with other federal nutrition programs and other strategies to make sure that children have access to healthy meals beyond traditional school hours.
With the 2021-2022 funding round, NJCNF is taking a place-based approach that will take a deeper dive into specific communities in New Jersey to strengthen partnerships, identify opportunities to fill gaps in child food access, and seed innovative collaborations. NJCNF will focus on supporting access to healthy meals for children within the following communities:
- Atlantic County: Atlantic City, Hamilton
- Bergen County: Entire County
- Ocean County: Toms River
- Salem County: Entire County
- Warren County: Phillipsburg
NJCNF will support child nutrition in each of these communities through:
Partnership and capacity building: The program’s place-based approach is implemented in partnership with Hunger Free New Jersey (HFNJ). HFNJ will coordinate meetings with key stakeholders to inform food access data collection, recruit new CACFP/SFSP program participants, expand existing programs and sites, and create sustainable partnerships and strategies to fill gaps. Organizations will be encouraged to share resources and best-practices and to develop comprehensive strategies to implement, collaborate, and cross-promote programs community-wide. Organizations can reach out to hungerfreenj@cfanj.org to get connected.
Food accessibility report: For each selected community, an analysis of food accessibility has been developed. Informed by local partners, the report aims to be a tool for local leaders and stakeholders to identify opportunities to improve availability of staple and perishable food and meal programs.
For more information, contact: NJCNF@reinvestment.com
Innovation Awards
NJCNF also aims to support new initiatives and systems-focused work to improve child food access through a small number of Innovation Awards. Organizations may apply for support to pilot programs, seed unique partnerships and collaborations, or develop additional statewide resources. These awards are available to organizations throughout the state of New Jersey.
If interested in proposing an idea and learning more about how to apply, please contact Karen Bustard at karen.bustard@reinvestment.com.
Program History
NJCNF has emerged as a unique partnership between a community development financial institution (CDFI), advocates on the ground, and partners throughout the state, to increase participation in federal child nutrition programs and expand the availability of fresh and nutritious food to children across the state of New Jersey.
Between 2019 and 2020, NJCNF supported 25 organizations that participated in the CACFP and/or the SFSP by offering grants, technical assistance, and sector resources to federal nutrition program sponsors, sites, and meal vendors. Awards helped organizations to increase program participation, improve meal quality, and increase financial sustainability. In addition, during summer 2020 NJCNF Emergency Meal Awards helped 41 organizations continue meal service during pandemic disruptions. Learn more about these awards in the NJCNF Emergency Meals Grants Awards Summary.
Project Partners
Hunger Free New Jersey – NJCNF partners with Hunger Free New Jersey and the Food for Thought Campaign in its advocacy efforts to ensure that every single New Jersey child has healthy food to eat, every single day.
Advocates for Children of New Jersey – ACNJ works to identify children’s needs through research, policy and legal analysis. Reinvestment Fund’s Policy Solutions team has partnered with ACNJ on research to expand participation in CACFP.
News & Resources
News
Resources
Application Guidance
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for NJCNF Equipment Grants
- NJCNF Equipment Grants: Smart Simple Registration and Application Guide
- NJCNF Equipment Grant Application Tutorial Video
Reports
- Nourishing Our Youngest Children: How to Expand the Child and Adult Care Food Program
- NJCNF Summer Meals Summit Presentation (December 2019)
- Breastfeeding-Friendly Child Care Space Recommendations Report | August 2020
- Breastfeeding Babies Are Welcome Here: Creating Breastfeeding-Friendly Child Care in New Jersey | May 2021
Organizations
- New Jersey Department of Agriculture – Division of Food and Nutrition – administers the CACFP and SFSP programs in New Jersey and offers resources, trainings and technical assistance to program sponsors.
- Rutgers Cooperative Extension – Department of Family & Community Health Sciences – provides nutrition training and technical assistance for schools and families at the county level.
- NJ SNAP-Ed – provides nutrition and fitness education.
- Grow NJ Kids – New Jersey’s program to raise the quality of child care and early learning across the state, offers resources for providers to improve program nutrition.
Continue to check back for resource updates.