Nutritional Development Services (NDS), an agency of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is currently hosting its Summer Meals Program. This vital initiative ensures that children and youth aged 18 or younger throughout the Greater Philadelphia area have access to wholesome, nourishing meals at no cost when school is out of session.

NDS recently joined the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Children and Families, the American Dairy Association, and the City of Philadelphia’s Parks and Recreation Department to kick off the 2024 Summer Meals Program in Philadelphia.

Jean Falk, a Registered Dietician and Administrator of Food Safety for NDS, announced this year’s program theme. “Each summer at NDS, we provide a fun theme for our summer sites to plug into for activities, contests, and prizes. This year our theme is Unity. Being here today, being a part of the Summer Meals kick off with other sponsors and organizations that came together and work together to bridge that meal gap in Philadelphia to make a difference is the definition of unity!”

Throughout the summer, NDS has been providing partnering sites with activity resources to help promote unity not only at the sites, but also within the families and cities where the children and youth reside.

At their annual “Blessing of the Summer” in July, participating children celebrated how individuals are “United in God’s Love.” Participants wrote their own prayers pledging to strive for unity and received a “United in God’s Love” bracelet.

To maximize participation and increase the enjoyment of the activities, NDS more recently celebrated Unity Day. The agency encouraged their sites to engage in meaningful unity activities with participants. Through various games and activities, children spent the day learning how to be more considerate, respectful, and mindful of the needs of others.

“While visiting summer meal sites, I was impressed by how many of them embraced this year’s theme of ‘unity,’” said David Stier, Assistant Director of Community Relations for NDS. “The adult leaders made it come alive for the children. Seeds of hope are being planted around the Philadelphia area.”

Stier traveled to YWCA Creekside (Bucks County) to help that site celebrate Unity Day.

“The Summer Meals leader did a fantastic job organizing the day,” he added. “The children completed several unity activities in which they wrote down their thoughts about what unity is and how they could contribute to unity.”

Stier and another NDS staff member led a discussion about unity and provided the children with various encouragements including trusting that we are all happier when we work together as a team and looking to the good inside our own hearts to guide us.

The day ended with an outdoor juggling activity to promote unity. This activity featured students coming together to develop a plan to keep the ball in the air.

NDS also hosted two contests to encourage creativity among children benefiting from the Summer Meals Program. The competitions included a poster – drawing about what unity means to you – and a group unity contest.

“We had some really great entries,” said Stier. “The objective was for each site to do something together to demonstrate unity while having fun.”

One of the winners for the group contest was the first-grade class at the Harris School in Darby Township, who created a unity tree. The leaves were made from the tracings of their hands and included words of unity written on them. At the trunk of the tree the class wrote, “We all are different, but in this class we grow together!”

In 2023, NDS’ Summer Meals Program served 282 sites throughout the Greater Philadelphia area and provided approximately 338,769 meals to children.

For over 50 years, NDS’ mission has been to serve children and those in need with healthy food and food-related resources. NDS accomplishes its mission in two distinct ways: by administering the federally funded child nutrition programs and through the privately supported Community Food Program.

For more information about the Summer Meals Program, please visit here.

To learn more about NDS, check out their website here.