Here's the background . . . 

The Soho Center is offering you the use of our three, highly produced 0:30 second television and radio commercials to publicize the CACFP and recruit low-income and/or rural providers to your program.

Now that Tier Implementation is a fact, many Sponsors across the country have experienced dropping enrollments and increasing difficulties in recruiting new providers to the CACFP.  And Sponsors are faced with limited administrative budgets for program operation and outreach activities. 

If you want to build up your program by recruiting new providers as fast and efficiently as possible, here's an important way to do just that - without using your regular administrative budget. 

The USDA can provide you with the needed funds to recruit more providers to your program - with costs completely covered by a USDA Rural/Low Income Expansion Grant.

The Soho Center can help you write the Grant request.  We can provide you with our high-quality TV and radio campaign - including public relations advice and recruitment and intake assistance. 

Your local TV and radio stations can run these commercials for free as PSAs.

They look great and, more important, these highly-produced 0:30-second spots can generate hundreds of calls from providers.  You can then follow up with providers and encourage them to join your CACFP.

In addition to our successful, large-scale trials in Virginia, the commercials are currently or have been recently used by USDA Food Program Sponsors in Utah, Maine, Virginia, Oregon/Washington, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Mississipi.
   

Your program could - and should - be next . . . 

The commercials feature Linda Ronstadt singing Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" and include lots of engaging footage of kids and providers; the up-beat narrative explains the USDA Food Program in a very contemporary, positive, non-threatening manner - exactly what's needed. 

The commercials are first-rate.  They were written and produced by a multi-award-winning creative team.  And they WORK!    

What others are saying about this PSA campaign  .  .  .

 

David S. Liederman, Former Executive Director
Child Welfare League of America (CWLA)
"I think your campaign is wonderful." 
 

Ruth Anne Foote, Manager
Early Childhood Forum
National Association of Child Care Resource and
Referral Agencies (NACCRA)
"I have seen your commercials.  They are beautiful." 
 

Deborah Eaton, President 
National Association For Family Child Care (NAFCC) 
"The commercials give a meaningful message about the family child care profession. We congratulate you for your efforts to reach unregulated providers and bring them into the system which will provide professional recognition, regulation/licensing, peer support, training, and education. We look forward to a successful REACH Initiative in every state!"
 

Prior to getting an $804,000 grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation for our REACH Initiative, the Soho Center was the fastest-growing USDA Food Program Sponsor in Virginia - utilizing an innovative combination of television spots and other outreach strategies to surface and recruit child care providers. 

When we began our REACH Initiative, we stopped being a USDA Sponsor to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest and focussed our efforts on developing strategies and materials to help Sponsors nationwide. 

The commercials, related print materials, and outreach techniques embody what we've  learned about using media to identify and surface child care providers, educate them about the Food Program, and persuade them to join the CACFP. 

Note -
While the USDA is prohibited from recommending
or endorsing specific products, if you want feedback or 
references on the Soho Center, you may contact 
Mr. Tom Leverich, USDA Regional Office, New Jersey 
at 609-259-5139 - or e-mail Mr. Leverich at - 
Thomas.Leverich@fns.usda.gov

Read the Actual Regs!
For Sponsors who want to see the actual USDA regulations 
(including information on these Rural/Low-Income Expansion 
Grants), you can just CLICK HERE  for the complete text 
of the current regulations as published in the Federal Register
on February 27, 1998. 

Frequently Asked Questions
Based on our talking with nearly 100 sponsors nationwide over the past few months, we have put together a collection of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)and answers.  CLICK HERE to go to the FAQs and see if we've covered your questions.  If not, call Jeanna Beker, Director, at 540-923-5012.

Taking advantage of this offer is easy.  Here's how - 

• We can send you a dub of the three commercials for your review.  All three commercials urge providers and parents to call an easy-to-remember toll-free number (1-800-A1-KIDS-1) to find out about a wonderful program - the CACFP. 
 
• After you have seen the commercials, give us a call to discuss how you can use them at no cost to your program.  When you call, we'll talk about the availability of USDA Expansion Grants and how these funds can cover the cost of using these three commercials on TV and radio, our public relations and intake assistance, provider incentives, and your staff's salaries to follow up on the names the campaign surfaces.
 
• If you decide to go ahead, we'll sign a simple agreement and work cooperatively with you to complete your Expansion Grant Application.  We'll suggest ways to help you get the spots placed in your market as no-cost PSAs (Public Service Announcements).  We'll send your TV and/or radio stations broadcast-quality for-air dubs as needed.  We'll even provide you with samples of follow-up letters and intake information forms.
 
• Once the commercials start running in your area, we'll collect names, phone numbers, and other basic  informationfrom the providers and parents who respond.  We will then fax this valuable information to you on a regular basis for your staff to follow up.

The Soho Center seeks collaborations with sponsors across the nation who are interested in using media to publicize the CACFP to new and/or unregulated providers and to low-income and rural providers.  And we can do it in a way that doesn't use up your existing administrative budget. Given that the commercials cost over $100,000 to produce and are effective, this is an opportunity worth pursuing. 

For more information on using these television and radio commercials and our intake services to help recruit providers and publicize your CACFP, please call Jeanna Beker, Director, the Soho Center at 540-923-5012 or e-mail us at soho@child2000.org
   

  H O M E

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One More Idea - In case these three commercials aren't exactly what you need,
the Soho Center is ready to work with you and your organization to create
custom versions - or even completely new spots - at costs lower than
you might pay to create spots of equal quality. 
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If working with the Soho Center to create a custom radio or TV spot is of interest,
you might want to click  here to see more about the Soho Center's media capabilities.
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 * For those who may not be familiar with the CACFP, it is a part of 
the National School Lunch Act that provides nutrition education and 
cash reimbursements to family child care providers for 
children's healthy meals and snacks.