Announcement of Funding Opportunity
RFP #: GC24-009
FY 2023 National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance Grant for School Food Authorities
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Grant Application Documents
GC24-009 FY 2023 National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance Grant for School Food Authorities (PDF) 
| GC24-009 FY 2023 National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance Grant for School Food Authorities (Word) 
Grant Application (Fillable PDF) 
Questions and Answers – Posted 3/6/2024
Purpose of Grant
The School Food Service Equipment Grant is intended to improve the infrastructure of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). This will be achieved by providing the opportunity for schools to purchase equipment to serve healthier meals, improve the overall quality of meals, improve food safety, expand participation in school meals programs, and help to support the establishment, maintenance, or expansion of the School Breakfast Program.
Eligible Applicants
All Recipient Agencies (RAs) under a School Food Authority (SFA) participating in the NSLP in New York State (NYS) are eligible (including public school districts, non-profit nonpublic schools, charter schools and residential childcare institutions).
The SFA will apply on behalf of their eligible RAs. Unless otherwise exempt, as detailed in this RFP, the SFA will submit a separate application for each piece of requested equipment for an eligible RA.
Priority will be given to RAs that did not receive a previous grant award through the Fiscal Year (FY) FY 2020, FY 2021, or the FY 2022 National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance Grant for School Food Authorities.
A list of RAs that previously received an equipment grant in FY 2020, FY 2021, or FY 2022 is available at: Previous Food Service Equipment Grant Recipients.
Mandatory Requirements
Equipment Assistance Grant Applications will only be considered if the following Mandatory Application Requirements are met:
- Non-public and charter school SFA applicants are prequalified in the Statewide Financial System (SFS) by the application deadline of 5:00 p.m. on April 1, 2024. Additional information is provided in the Prequalification for Individual Applicants section below.
- Applications are submitted by an eligible SFA applicant that is currently approved to participate in the NSLP or that receives formal approval from the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to operate the NSLP by the application deadline.
- Applications request equipment that is allowable under this RFP with a value greater than $1,000.
- All applications for non-public school RAs include a current Certificate of Occupancy or other documentation from the local government authority having jurisdiction for determining compliance with applicable building codes of NYS and current building fire inspection that indicates no violations from the local government authority having jurisdiction for determining compliance with applicable fire codes of NYS for the RA building in which the equipment will be placed. (See Mandatory Requirements for Non-public Schools section of RFP for details.)
- Applications must be submitted to the SharePoint submission website by the application deadline. Applications submitted by any mode other than to the SharePoint website, including mail, email, etc., will not be accepted. Please see the “FY23 SharePoint Instructions” document posted with the RFP.
Funding and Project Dates
- Funds Available: $1,810,487
- Project Dates: 7/1/2024-6/30/2025
- SFAs must obligate their full grant funding by no later than January 15, 2025. All procurement and expenditure activities must be completed no later than 6/30/2025.
- Grant Amounts: A value greater than $1,000 up to a maximum of $20,000. Unless otherwise exempt, as detailed in this RFP, separate applications must be submitted for each piece of requested equipment. Total combined awards to an SFA for an individual RA cannot exceed $20,000.
Due Date
Fully completed applications including all required pieces must be uploaded into the SharePoint site by 5:00 p.m. on April 1, 2024.
Submission process: A SharePoint site for application submissions has been created for the RFP# GC24-009 FY23 NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant for SFAs. Permission to access the SharePoint site for uploading applications is granted by the NYSED Child Nutrition Office. All food service directors, business officials and Child Nutrition fiscal contacts entered in the Child Nutrition Management System (CNMS) as a contact for a NSLP-participating SFA will be sent an email invitation to gain access to the SharePoint site. Please allow 24-48 hours from the posting of the RFP to receive this email invitation.
Potential applicants that did not receive the invitation email should request an invitation via RFPGC24-009@nysed.gov. The email request must contain the SFA name, SFA LEA code, the individual’s name, title, and email that wishes to be granted access to the SharePoint site. Invitation requests for SharePoint will be accepted and approved until 4:00 pm April 1, 2024. Requests to access SharePoint after this time will not be granted. It is recommended that the SFA administration designate only one duly authorized user to upload all submissions for the SFA. The SharePoint site exists only to upload completed applications and is not used to complete the application itself.
Questions and Answers
- Questions and Answers – Posted 3/6/2024
Questions regarding this grant must be emailed to RFPGC24-009@nysed.gov by February 28, 2024. A Questions and Answers Summary will be posted here by March 13, 2024.
Non-Mandatory Notice of Intent
The Notice of Intent (NOI) is not a requirement for submitting a complete application by the application date; however, NYSED strongly encourages all prospective applicants to submit an NOI to ensure a timely and thorough review and rating process. An NOI submitted for non-public and charter school SFAs will also help to facilitate timely review of their prequalification materials. The notice of intent is a simple email notice stating your SFA’s intent to submit an application for this grant. Please include your SFA LEA code and NYS Vendor ID number. The NOI due date is March 18, 2024. Please send the NOI to RFPGC24-009@nysed.gov.
Contacts
Program: |
Fiscal: |
Grant Application Documents
GC24-009 FY 2023 National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance Grant for School Food Authorities (PDF) | GC24-009 FY 2023 National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance Grant for School Food Authorities (Word)
Grant Application (Fillable PDF)
Questions and Answers – Posted 3/6/2024