I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7185 

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 

throughout the year. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 28, 2018 

Ms. TITUS (for herself, Ms. MOORE, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. DEUTCH, 

Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. COHEN, Mr. SOTO, Ms. ESTY of 

Connecticut, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. 

EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. VELA, Ms. 

JUDY CHU of California, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. 

ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. 

GALLEGO, and Mr. YARMUTH) 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 throughout the year. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Hunger Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS WITHOUT HUNGER. 

5 Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School 

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

7 end the following: 

8 ‘‘(l) WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS WITHOUT HUN9 GER.— 

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

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

12 ‘at-risk school child’ means a child who is eligi13 ble to receive free or reduced price meals under 

14 this Act or the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 

15 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.). 

16 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.— 

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

18 institution’ means a public or private non19 profit institution that is determined by the 

20 Secretary to be able to meet safe food stor21 age, handling, and delivery standards es22 tablished by the Secretary. 

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

24 institution’ includes— 

25 ‘‘(I) an elementary or secondary 

26 school or school food service authority; 


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1 ‘‘(II) a food bank or food pantry; 

2 ‘‘(III) a homeless shelter; 

3 ‘‘(IV) an institution participating 

4 in the program under section 13; 

5 ‘‘(V) an institution participating 

6 in the program under section 17; and 

7 ‘‘(VI) such other type of emer8 gency feeding agency as is approved 

9 by the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to the avail11 ability of appropriations provided in advance in an 

12 appropriations Act specifically for the purpose of 

13 carrying out this subsection, the Secretary shall es14 tablish a program under which the Secretary shall 

15 provide commodities, on a competitive basis, to eligi16 ble institutions to provide nutritious food to at-risk 

17 children on weekends and during extended school 

18 holidays throughout the year. 

19 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re21 ceive commodities under this subsection, an eli22 gible institution shall submit an application to 

23 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

24 and containing such information as the Sec25 retary may determine. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PLAN.—An application under sub2 paragraph (A) shall include the plan of the eli3 gible institution for the distribution of nutri4 tious foods to at-risk school children, includ5 ing— 

6 ‘‘(i) methods of food service delivery 

7 that will allow at-risk school children to 

8 leave the premises of the institution with 

9 commodities provided under the project; 

10 ‘‘(ii) assurances that children receiv11 ing foods under the project will not be pub12 licly separated or overtly identified; 

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

14 provided under the project and provisions 

15 to ensure food quality and safety; 

16 ‘‘(iv) information on the number of 

17 at-risk school children to be served and the 

18 per-child cost of providing the children 

19 with food; and 

20 ‘‘(v) such other information as the 

21 Secretary determines to be necessary to as22 sist the Secretary in evaluating projects 

23 that receive commodities under this sub24 section. 


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

2 this subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to 

3 eligible institutions that— 

4 ‘‘(A) have on-going programs and experi5 ence serving populations with significant pro6 portions of at-risk school children; 

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

8 food delivery and food safety systems; 

9 ‘‘(C) maintain high-quality control, ac10 countability, and recordkeeping standards; 

11 ‘‘(D) provide children with readily consum12 able food of high nutrient content and quality; 

13 ‘‘(E) demonstrate cost efficiencies and the 

14 potential for obtaining supplemental funding 

15 from non-Federal sources to carry out projects; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(F) demonstrate the ability to continue 

18 projects for the full approved term of the pilot 

19 project period. 

20 ‘‘(5) GUIDELINES.— 

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

22 issue guidelines containing the criteria for 

23 projects to receive commodities under this sec24 tion. 


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

2 to the maximum extent practicable within the 

3 funds available and applications submitted, take 

4 into account— 

5 ‘‘(i) geographical variations in project 

6 locations to include qualifying projects in 

7 rural, urban, and suburban areas with high 

8 proportions of families with at-risk school 

9 children; 

10 ‘‘(ii) different types of projects that 

11 offer nutritious foods on weekends and 

12 during school holidays to at-risk school 

13 children; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) institutional capacity to collect, 

15 maintain, and provide statistically valid in16 formation necessary for the Secretary— 

17 ‘‘(I) to analyze and evaluate the 

18 results of the pilot project; and 

19 ‘‘(II) to make recommendations 

20 to Congress. 

21 ‘‘(6) EVALUATION.— 

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

23 than November 30, 2021, the Secretary shall 

24 complete an interim evaluation of the pilot pro25 gram carried out under this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than De2 cember 31, 2023, the Secretary shall submit to 

3 Congress a final report that contains— 

4 ‘‘(i) an evaluation of the pilot pro5 gram carried out under this subsection; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) any recommendations of the Sec8 retary for legislative action. 

9 ‘‘(7) FUNDING.— 

10 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA11 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

12 to carry out this section such sums as are nec13 essary, to remain available until expended. 

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

15 than 3 percent of the funds made available 

16 under subparagraph (A) may be used by the 

17 Secretary for expenses associated with review of 

18 the operations and evaluation of the projects 

19 carried out under this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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