Application Period is Open for Winston Industries Equipment Award Grant

The School Nutrition Foundation is pleased to announce that the 2013 Winston Equipment Grant application period is now open. SNF enjoys a wonderful relationship with Winston Industries, the foodservice equipment supplier for school foodservice kitchens around the country, and creator of CVap® (Controlled Vapor Technology). Now in its sixth year, the Winston Industries Equipment Award Grant program will award one school district in need of improving its school meal kitchen facilities through a competitive grant process.

Why should you apply to win this grant? We sat down to talk to Corey Ainsworth, District Sales Executive at Winston Industries on why the Winston Industries Equipment Award Grant is so important. “This grant has been around for about six years, and it’s a real benefit to school districts. Giving a school nutrition program ten pieces of equipment—worth up to $70-80,000—can make a real difference. Even newer schools, those built in the 1980s and ‘90s, are getting older and while the brick-and-mortar buildings are built to last, the kitchen equipment is not; everyone needs updated equipment.”

A family-owned company, Winston Industries has been transforming kitchens through innovation since 1969, improving food quality and safety, and reducing waste in kitchens worldwide. Through their generosity, this award is available to help school districts whose kitchens are in need of an equipment upgrade. Winston Industries is committed to solving global food and nutrition challenges through scholarship funding; their goal is to help eradicate hunger, malnutrition, and obesity, and they address these goals through partnerships and technological innovation in their products.

Building better kitchens, and helping school foodservice professionals achieve their goals is what motivates Winston Industries, continued Ainsworth, explaining: “Schools are one of our biggest customers, and if we aren’t giving back, what are we doing? Throughout the years we have given over $100,000 in scholarships, grants, and equipment through our partnerships with School Nutrition Association and School Nutrition Foundation. It’s about helping school foodservice professionals further themselves and their careers. I’ve had the privilege of working with three of the four equipment grant winners, as well as with schools that we donated equipment to after Hurricane Katrina. When I visit these districts, I can see the difference we made there, even years later.”

The deadline to apply for the Winston Equipment Grant is April 30, 2013. Here are some details you will need when applying:

Requirements

• Applicants must be current members of the School Nutrition Association
• Applicants must be the person responsible for directing the school nutrition program of the school district
• The application must represent the entire school district’s equipment needs

Equipment received from this award will consist of ten (10) pieces of equipment from Winston Industries, which includes:

• Holding cabinets
• Holding drawers
• Thermalizers

Applications will be reviewed for need, plan to integrate new equipment, and impact of new equipment on your school’s foodservice program. You will be asked to answer three questions on your application:

1. Describe the current equipment challenges your program faces, and how you have adapted to those challenges.
2. Please provide an individual equipment implementation plan for each school/facility in your district from the pool of available Winston equipment.
3. Please provide an overview of your implementation plan. Your response should address the positive impact all of the equipment will have in your child nutrition program. As you formulate your response, you may want to think about the following: financial impact, nutritional impact, labor impact, increased meal capacity, menuing and recipe developing, design implications, increased participation beyond the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.

Review the application online.