I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1676 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish 

a weekend and holiday feeding program to provide nutritious food to 

at-risk school children on weekends and during extended school holidays 

during the school year. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2015 

Ms. TITUS (for herself, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RUSH, Ms. FUDGE, 

Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 

MOORE, and Mrs. LAWRENCE) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

Act to establish a weekend and holiday feeding program 

to provide nutritious food to at-risk school children on 

weekends and during extended school holidays during 

the school year. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Weekends Without 

5 Hunger Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS WITHOUT HUNGER. 

2 Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School 

3 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘(l) WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS WITHOUT HUN6 GER.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

8 ‘‘(A) AT-RISK SCHOOL CHILD.—The term 

9 ‘at-risk school child’ has the meaning given the 

10 term in section 17(r)(1). 

11 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible 

13 institution’ means a public or private non14 profit institution that is determined by the 

15 Secretary to be able to meet safe food stor16 age, handling, and delivery standards es17 tablished by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘eligible 

19 institution’ includes— 

20 ‘‘(I) an elementary or secondary 

21 school or school food service authority; 

22 ‘‘(II) a food bank or food pantry; 

23 ‘‘(III) a homeless shelter; and 

24 ‘‘(IV) such other type of emer25 gency feeding agency as is approved 

26 by the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to the avail2 ability of appropriations provided in advance in an 

3 appropriations Act specifically for the purpose of 

4 carrying out this subsection, the Secretary shall es5 tablish a program under which the Secretary shall 

6 provide commodities, on a competitive basis, to eligi7 ble institutions to provide nutritious food to at-risk 

8 children on weekends and during extended school 

9 holidays during the school year. 

10 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re12 ceive commodities under this subsection, an eli13 gible institution shall submit an application to 

14 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

15 and containing such information as the Sec16 retary may determine. 

17 ‘‘(B) PLAN.—An application under sub18 paragraph (A) shall include the plan of the eli19 gible institution for the distribution of nutri20 tious foods to at-risk school children, includ21 ing— 

22 ‘‘(i) methods of food service delivery 

23 to at-risk school children; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) assurances that children receiv2 ing foods under the project will not be pub3 licly separated or overtly identified; 

4 ‘‘(iii) lists of the types of food to be 

5 provided under the project and provisions 

6 to ensure food quality and safety; 

7 ‘‘(iv) information on the number of 

8 at-risk school children to be served and the 

9 per-child cost of providing the children 

10 with food; and 

11 ‘‘(v) such other information as the 

12 Secretary determines to be necessary to as13 sist the Secretary in evaluating projects 

14 that receive commodities under this sub15 section. 

16 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—In selecting applications under 

17 this subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to 

18 eligible institutions that— 

19 ‘‘(A) have on-going programs and experi20 ence serving populations with significant pro21 portions of at-risk school children; 

22 ‘‘(B) have a good record of experience in 

23 food delivery and food safety systems; 

24 ‘‘(C) maintain high quality control, ac25 countability, and recordkeeping standards; 


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1 ‘‘(D) provide children with readily 

2 consumable food of high nutrient content and 

3 quality; 

4 ‘‘(E) demonstrate cost efficiencies and the 

5 potential for obtaining supplemental funding 

6 from non-Federal sources to carry out projects; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(F) demonstrate the ability to continue 

9 projects for the full approved term of the pilot 

10 project period. 

11 ‘‘(5) GUIDELINES.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

13 issue guidelines containing the criteria for 

14 projects to receive commodities under this sec15 tion. 

16 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The guidelines shall, 

17 to the maximum extent practicable within the 

18 funds available and applications submitted, take 

19 into account— 

20 ‘‘(i) geographical variations in project 

21 locations to include qualifying projects in 

22 rural, urban, and suburban areas with high 

23 proportions of families with at-risk school 

24 children; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) different types of projects that 

2 offer nutritious foods on weekends and 

3 during school holidays to at-risk school 

4 children; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) institutional capacity to collect, 

6 maintain, and provide statistically valid in7 formation necessary for the Secretary— 

8 ‘‘(I) to analyze and evaluate the 

9 results of the pilot project; and 

10 ‘‘(II) to make recommendations 

11 to Congress. 

12 ‘‘(6) EVALUATION.— 

13 ‘‘(A) INTERIM EVALUATION.—Not later 

14 than November 30, 2018, the Secretary shall 

15 complete an interim evaluation of the pilot pro16 gram carried out under this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than De18 cember 31, 2020, the Secretary shall submit to 

19 Congress a final report that contains— 

20 ‘‘(i) an evaluation of the pilot pro21 gram carried out under this subsection; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ii) any recommendations of the Sec24 retary for legislative action. 

25 ‘‘(7) FUNDING.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA2 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

3 to carry out this section such sums as are nec4 essary, to remain available until expended. 

5 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Not more 

6 than 3 percent of the funds made available 

7 under subparagraph (A) may be used by the 

8 Secretary for expenses associated with review of 

9 the operations and evaluation of the projects 

10 carried out under this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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