Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has presented the Phoenix Award, one of the city’s highest honors, to Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning for its efforts to feed children through the Summer Food Service Program. The SFSP provides free meals in low-income areas during the summer months when students are out of school. Over 60 percent of Georgia’s school-aged children are eligible for free or reduced lunch. The SFSP is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered in Georgia by DECAL.
In 2014, DECAL and the SFSP served 4.6 million meals at over 1,619 sites — an increase in meals of over 22 percent from the summer of 2013. Working in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Education’s Seamless Summer Option Program, 145 of 159 Georgia counties has summer meal services.
The Phoenix Award is the highest honor an individual or group can receive from the mayor of Atlanta. The award recognizes outstanding achievements and service to the city, state, nation or world.
Information: atlantaga.gov
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