Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, December 03, 2019
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVING AN AGREEMENT WITH THE LIGHTHOUSE TO PROVIDE FREE SNACKS AND LUNCH AT CITY PARK'S SUMMER AND AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
In April 21, 2009, the City of Carson entered into an agreement with Lighthouse to provide free snacks and lunch to children in city Kids Club and Summer Day Camp programs at the City’s parks. At the time that the contract was executed, there was no sunset date included. Thus, a new agreement for the period January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2024 was recently negotiated and developed for the City Council’s consideration. The City Council is asked to approve this agreement so as to ensure the continuation of this valuable program (Exhibit 1).
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
TAKE the following actions:
1. APPROVE the agreement with Lighthouse-Home for Medically Fragile Children, Inc. for the period January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2024 to provide free lunches and snacks to children participating in Kids Club, Summer Day Camp, 3-in-1 Enrichment and Early Childhood Education programs.
2. AUTHORIZE the Mayor to execute the agreement, following approval as to form by the City Attorney.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
The Lighthouse is a nonprofit children’s charity that provides an array of programs and services to support medically fragile, low income and at-risk youth. Since 2007, the Summer Food Program has offered free nutritious lunches and snacks to youth under 18 years of age, or persons 19 and over that are mentally and physically disabled and attending a public or private non-profit special needs school program. The snacks and meals are distributed at various sites, including parks and recreation centers. The goal of the Summer Food Program is to ensure that children receive at least one nutritious and balanced meal per day when school is not in session. Funding for the program comes from the USDA, and is administered by the California Department of Education.
Lighthouse has been providing free nutritious meals and snacks to the children in Kids Club and Summer Day Camp since 2009. In the time since, the 3-in-1 Enrichment and Early Childhood Education programs were added to its list of participants. As shown for the months of June through August 2019, during a typical summer over 32,000 snacks and more than 28,000 lunches were given to children participating in these programs (Exhibit 2). To ensure that this program continues uninterrupted, the City Council is asked to approve the new contract.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
As this program is offered free of charge to participants of the selected programs, there is no impact to the City’s General Fund.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Lighthouse-Home for Medically Fragile Children, Inc. Contract. (pgs. 3-21)
2. Lighthouse meals delivered summer 2019 (pg. 22)
Prepared by: Gloria Marroquin, Recreation Program Manager