Grant Proposal: Mission Nutrition

April 1, 2015
Brandi Bennett, Maxine Wallace, & Briana Lemon
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Executive Summary
Thanks to Skoop and the Chef Ann Foundation Mission Nutrition is finally being brought
to the schools of Delaware County. This is an exciting time for the students and parents to start
and/or continue healthy eating habits while they are at school. Our target populations are
kindergarteners to 12th grade students. We will be placing locally grown fruits and vegetables in
the cafeterias, but first we will communicate with school health officials to ensure that we are not
distributing fruits and vegetables that many students may be highly allergic to. During lunch
periods we will have interactive presentations that will teach the students fun facts about the
fruits and vegetables being served that day. Our program will also educate students about the
different ways they have been prepared and fun ways they can be eaten as snacks.
The significance of the project is to not only increase the daily intake of fruits and
vegetables for youth of Delaware County, but to also educate them on the benefits of monitoring
their diet. The main focus of the program is to teach students the fundamentals of nutrition;
which will encourage them to teach their families. This will increase the fruit and vegetable
intake county wide. We also want students to understand the importance of eating fruits and
vegetables on a level that fits their comprehension skills to ensure that they will carry on the
habits later in life.
Background Information
America is in the middle of an obesity epidemic. A little more than two thirds of
American adults are either obese or overweight. About one in three American children are obese
or overweight. Indianas averages mirror the national averages. Because there is a strong
correlation between being overweight and issues like asthma, heart disease, diabetes, and low
self-esteem its imperative that society take steps to fight obesity (Indiana State Department of
Health, 2011). Though the causes of obesity range from genetics, lack of quality food, cultural
norms, lack of exercise, poor nutritional choices, and overeating, a person usually is afflicted
with at least one or more of these causes. Treating the multiple causes can be costly and
exhausting in the short term but the benefits are tenfold. Indiana spends $1.6 billion per year in
overall obesity-related medical costs but intervention programs could dramatically lower this
number (Centers for Disease Control, 2015).
Currently about 30% of Hoosier children are either overweight or obese, with slightly
higher rates of obesity in Black and Latino children as well of children from low income families
(Indiana State Department of Health, 2011). 22.3% families in Delaware County live in poverty
and 15.6% utilize the SNAP program (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013). This county is in particular

need compared to the rest of Indiana where only 15% are living in poverty and 12% are utilizing
SNAP (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013).
One of the most effective strategies for fighting obesity is to focus prevention efforts on
children, just like the tobacco prevention campaigns of the 90s. Our program aims to bring more
healthy fruits and vegetables into school the Delaware county school system as well as teach
children how to make more sound nutritional decisions. After our program is complete we expect
to see a slow, gradual decrease in the rates of childhood obesity in Delaware County.
According to the public school review, there are 36 public schools in Delaware County serving
16,400 students.
Goals, objectives, and significance
The main goal of Mission Nutrition is to help schools increase students access to fresh fruits and
vegetables while obtaining nutrition education. Due to the size of the grant we will be focusing
on elementary schools in the city of Muncie, which is the largest city in Delaware County. For
the project there will be three main objectives that will help us to reach our goal:
1. During the first month of school students will have access to locally grown fruit and vegetables
during lunch every Monday and Wednesday. For every month proceeding, students will have this
access Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until the academic year is over.
2. With every alternating week there will be mandatory 30 minute sessions in which students are
educated on nutritional facts and tips to help them understand the recommended daily serving of
fruits and vegetables.
3. By the end of the academic year students will be able to name 5 nutritional facts regarding fruits
and vegetables, and the vitamins and minerals there body will receive from those fruits and
vegetables.
Methods & Timeline
How often: Our program intends to implement amount of fresh fruits and vegetables provided in
the schools cafeterias twice a week, Monday and Wednesday, during the first month of the
academic year. After the first month we plan to have fresh fruit and vegetables in the cafeteria
every Monday and Wednesday with an educational program being conducted every Friday while
students try either a new fruit or vegetable for the day.
Marketing: The program will be advertised through monthly newsletters that are sent home
through students to their parent(s)/legal guardian(s). However, it will also be advertised to the
students through a county wide pep rally that will be hosted on various days at each school. The
pep rally will be used as a kick-off event to grab the students attention by having creative
chants, and a representative from our committee briefly explaining the purpose of the program.

There will also be posters hung in the main hallways of schools and bookmarks passed out to
each student with basic nutritional information.
Project Management: There will be one designated representatives from our programs
committee that will work directly with each schools faculty members to manage ongoing
activities at the school sites. Faculty members at the school who will be assisting include the:
cafeteria staff, school nurses, health educators, and physical education instructors.
Volunteers: For every school we would like 5 volunteers to be present. These volunteers could be
school staff or even parents. We would need them to monitor the intake of fruits and vegetables
during lunch. We would also need 2 teachers present at each school to teach classes on nutrition
that would occur during alternate weeks.
School support: We would need to be in contact with the Principal and Vice-principal of each
school to make sure there will be enough time allocated to the classes provided. We will need the
support of the individual who is over the dining services to make sure the fruits and vegetables
are being distributed in an effective manner, and we would also need the support and permission
of the parents to allow this program as well.
Evaluation
In order to appropriately monitor participation in our project we will have each individual
classroom fill out a weekly tracker that will allow students to use stickers to identify their fruit
and vegetable serving intake for the week. At the end of each month these trackers will be turned
in to the schools administrative offices to fill out the school wide tracker that will be symbolized
as a carrot which should be colored in by the end of the school year if each school has reached
the discussed servings goal. For students that are involved weekly in the project two Delaware
bucks will be awarded with the emblem of the schools mascot. These bucks can be redeemed at
the end of each month in the school gym where students can exchange their bucks for prizes.

Budget Form and Budget Narrative

Man Power
40 volunteers (5 per school) = Free

Posters and other paper materials

5 my plate educational posters per school * 8 schools = 760$
Monthly newsletters = 100$

Food
8 bushels of fresh apples from local growers (126 apples per bushel) = 576$
5 lbs sack of carrot seed for the fresh food garden experiment = 150

Kick off event and prizes

Local motivational speaker to speak at the 8 schools- 550$
8 ipod shuffles to raffle off as a prize- 368$

Narrative
Our budget is relatively simple. Were going to utilize the man power of the community for
good. Were sure that we can recruit college Health Science students from Ball State to help us
with our cause. Weve decided to use the My Plate educational posters because they are
educational, colorful, and easy to read. The fresh apples will be distributed and cut up for snacks
between the 8 schools and the 5 pound sack of carrot sees will be used to help start a healthy
food garden in the community. For our kick off event we have decided to find a local

motivational speaker to get the kids excited about nutrition and finally at the end of our program
we will be raffling of an ipod shuffle to a lucky kid in each school.

Proposal Attachments
Letter of Support from School Health Advisory Committee (SHAC):
April 1, 2015
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter in support of the grant application submitted by Delaware County for a
Mission Nutrition: Fruit and Veggie Grants for Schools.
The schools being proposed to receive locally grown fruits and vegetables during their lunch
periods are owned by Delaware Countys city of Muncie, Indiana. The School Health Advisory
Committee (SHAC) of Muncie monitors the nutrition plan of each school. Our office address is
100 W Main St, Muncie, IN zip code 47305.
The schools of Muncie have been trying to ensure that each student receives their necessary daily
servings of fruits and vegetables at school, but has had difficulty getting the produce to be fresh.
There have been meetings with the local farmers to ensure that the schools would begin to
purchase their fruit and vegetables from them. This was done to broadcast support of local
businesses and build a partnership throughout the community. Overall, many students lack the
proper education about their dietary needs to make knowledgeable choices about their nutrition.
Through the use of this grant we intend to educate the community about proper nutrition through
our youth.
Please consider the Mission Nutrition: Fruit and Veggie Grants for Schools Application
submitted by Delaware County for the implementation of locally grown fruits and vegetables in
Muncie, Indiana school cafeterias.
Sincerely,
School Health Advisory Committee (SHAC)

Documentation of Activities: There will be someone who is designated at each school to

photograph and interview the students about the efficiency of the program. After the academic
year has come to an end we will then create a short video that shows a compilation of the
pictures and interviews which will be presented to the community. There will also be a
suggestion box at the presentation so we can learn of ways to improve our program when we
reach out to other schools.