This document was revised according to decisions made at the 11/14/07 Collaborative Partner meeting.

King County Food and Fitness Initiative

Community Site Selection Process

The King County Food and Fitness Initiative will work at three distinct and nested geographic levels: 1)
the food production region (primarily Washington State), 2) King County, and 3) two local communities.
In order to produce measurable changes in behavioral and health outcomes, the Collaborative will focus
on two smaller communities affected by health disparities that will benefit from improving access to
healthy food and opportunities for physical activity.

A decision was made by Collaborative Partners on November 14, 2007 to uncouple the site selection
process from the leadership council.

The Site Selection Committee will be temporary with the sole function of selecting two focus
communities, and will not make any longer-term decisions about change actions, membership, or
resources. The formation of the site selection committee and the process to oversee and facilitate selecting
the two focus communities will begin in December 2007. The Site Selection Committee will work
through February 2008. Participation on the Site Selection Committee by Collaborative Partners from the
eight geographic areas, community based organizations, and members of the Assessment Team is
intended to provide a holistic assessment of applications based on agreed upon criteria.

Site Selection Committee Responsibilities

• Develop selection criteria, review applications from each site, (eight potential focus communities)
and make the final site selections.
• Develop and finalize the Request for Application (RFA) that will be sent to representatives of the
eight potential communities of focus.
• Work with all eight communities to help ensure that they successfully prepare their application
and form a community group to participate in the Collaborative. This may include making
presentations to the communities, helping to identify community leaders, and responding to
emerging issues.
• Attend two to three meetings

Selection will be based on criteria such as demonstrated commitment of the communities, ability to do the
work effectively, and alignment of the work with KCFFI objectives (e.g. policy and systems change;
capacity to have an impact; serving diverse populations; and focus on systems vs. programs).

Guidelines for Forming the Site Selection Committee

The Site Selection Committee will comprise up to 16 volunteer members including the following:
• Eight members: One member from each of the eight potential focus communities: 1) Beacon
Hill/SE Seattle, 2) Central/Downtown Seattle, 3) Delridge (West Seattle), 4) White Center, 5)
Federal Way, 6) Kent, 7) Seatac, and 8) Tukwila. These members may be municipal staff from the
local government, representatives from community based organizations, or residents.
• Two members: Youth perspective.
• Three members: Sector representation – members from other sectors/areas of expertise (e.g.
farming, food, nutrition, built environment, etc.) not from a specific geographic area.
• Three members: Assessment Team participants from University of Washington, Washington State
University, King County Extension, and Public Health Seattle-King County.
This document was revised according to decisions made at the 11/14/07 Collaborative Partner meeting.

Collaborative members interested in being on the Site Selection Committee should email Erin
MacDougall (erin.macdougall@kingcounty.gov). The co-conveners will make the final decision to
achieve the balance as outlined above.
This document was revised according to decisions made at the 11/14/07 Collaborative Partner meeting.

Proposed RFA Process to Select Focus Communities

The RFA will help the Site Selection Committee identify the following for each community:
• Evidence of fit with KCFFI goals - statement of problem they want to address
• Proposed potential change activities and policies
• Evidence of community commitment - including leadership, resources, and relationships

The Site Selection Committee will rank the applications based on predetermined criteria and
choose one site in Seattle and one in South King County.

Proposed RFA Questions (these are examples – the actual questions will be finalized by the Site
Selection Committee, when formed).

Community Context
• Briefly describe your community (including the geographic area(s), demographics, and
socio-political boundaries) – one paragraph.
• If applicable, describe the specific geographic area within your community where you
will focus your efforts. Describe the rationale for focusing on this area, based on data or
information obtained from local assessments and from past experiences in related
community initiatives.

Building on Existing Assets and Overcoming Barriers

• What are the biggest barriers your community faces in promoting improved nutrition and
physical activity (e.g. environmental, cultural, leadership, financial, etc.)?
• Please describe your community’s assets with regard to local and sustainable food. (e.g.
local food production and distribution system, relationship between the community and
local and regional farmers, farmers’ markets, and community/school gardens).
• Please describe your community’s assets with regard to physical activity and active
recreation.
• Describe any community-wide efforts (for any age group) to promote healthy eating
and/or active living over the last 3-5 years. Please include any grants received to fund
these efforts.
• Explain how the proposal would expand or compliment existing assets and efforts to
promote healthy eating and/or active living in your community.
• Describe a lesson learned in your efforts to promote policies for healthy eating and active
living in your community and how they might be applied to your participation as a Food
and Fitness Initiative community.

Alignment with the Kellogg Foundation Food and Fitness Initiative

• Please describe for us your community’s capacity to participate in KCFFI by providing a
few examples of past accomplishments and providing evidence of participant and
community support for another initiative in your community that required partnership,
collaborative and public/non-profit/for-profit engagement to be successful (it is not
necessary that the example is related to food or fitness).
This document was revised according to decisions made at the 11/14/07 Collaborative Partner meeting.

• Please provide an example of the positive impact of a community effort to promote

healthy eating and/or active living policies in your community (both concrete and
anecdotal examples may be included).

Partnerships and Leadership

• Describe collaborative efforts on public health issues that demonstrate innovative and
successful partnerships with representation from various levels of government, the
private for-profit sector, the non-profit sector, community/neighborhood groups, and
citizens.
• How will you ensure community member, including youth, involvement in your work,
especially among those in target areas or populations? Please provide examples of how
community members including youth have been engaged in addressing public health
issues in your community in the past. What barriers were encountered and how were they
overcome?
• Describe the leadership in your community for nutrition and physical activity.
• Please provide evidence of support for your community’s involvement in KCFFI among
key community leaders (government, business, or non-profit sector) and community
members.

Sustainability & Sharing Lessons Learned

• Thinking ahead 10 years, please describe the lasting benefits you envision for your
community as a result of participating in KCFFI. Who will be better off and how? What
changes in people, places, or institutions do you expect to occur?
• Sustainability is a goal of this project. If possible, include at least two examples of other
nutrition, physical activity, or chronic disease prevention policies AND programs that
your community has been successful in piloting and sustaining.
• If your community was chosen, how could other local communities learn from your
experience? How will you share results and benefits with local communities?