Apply for Summer Nutrition Champion Awards

2025 SUMMER NUTRITION CHAMPION AWARDS

We want to celebrate you!

The NCDPI School Nutrition team and the Carolina Hunger Initiative encourage all summer meals sponsors to consider applying to one of the 2025 North Carolina Summer Nutrition Champion Awards. Sponsors may be self-nominated or nominated by a third party such as a community partner. This is an opportunity for you to show your successes from summer 2025!

Applications are due Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025 by 5pm.

Eligibility Requirements

Sponsors are required to be in good standing with all School and/or Summer Nutrition Programs. This means the sponsor has had no major findings or program violations, has completed and implemented all corrective actions from the last compliance review, was not found seriously deficient in the past two years, and has never been terminated from the Summer Nutrition Programs.

Which Award is Right for Me?

Rural Non-Congregate Innovation Award

Apply for this award if you served Meals To-Go (RURAL NON-CONGREGATE MEALS or NCM) meals in summer 2025 and used one or more innovative concepts and marketing strategies!

Going the Distance in Innovation Award

Apply for this award if you used one or more innovative concepts and marketing strategies to increase participation at CONGREGATE meal sites!

Rising Star Award

Apply for this award if you are a NEW Summer Nutrition Program sponsor and if you operated either a CONGREGATE or NON-CONGREGATE meal site! (1st or 2nd year of operation.) Tell us what made your first or second year of operation of SFSP or SSO a standout success, such as: a menu with appealing, quality, healthy options; engaging, educational enrichment; and strategies and partnerships to support participation.

Superior Site Award

Apply for this award if you have one specific open SITE (not sponsor) that performed above and beyond this summer to gain and maintain participation from the local community at either a CONGREGATE or NON-CONGREGATE meal site!

Farm to Summer Best Practice Award

Apply for this award if you implemented FARM TO SUMMER initiatives in your summer program, including serving locally grown, caught or raised foods, and conducting agricultural and nutritional education activities. You can apply for this award if you operated either a CONGREGATE or NON-CONGREGATE meal site.

How To Apply

Review the FULL DETAILS in the PDFs below. Make sure to review both the awards summary, and the specific info for the award for which you plan to apply.

Choose the award that best fits you and your successses. Each award overview includes a rubric that will be used to score your application. Find this information below. Review it carefully!
Create your presentation SLIDES. These are your application! (PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva, or PDF are all OK. Use WeTransfer.com if your file is too big.) Make sure you address all of the awards criteria from the rubric in your slides.
Label your slides and supplemental materials: “[Award Name] – [Organization Name]”.
Attach everything to an email, and submit to carolinahungerinitiative@unc.edu with the title “2025 Summer Nutrition Champion Awards – [Your Organization Name]” in the subject line of the email.
All nominations should be submitted no later than Tuesday, October 21, 2025 by 5 PM. The winners will be notified the week of Nov. 3, 2025.