Thousands of Oregon children participate in school meals during the school year.
The Summer Food Program provides funds for organizations to continue to serve meals to children during the summer when school is not in session. Funding is provided by the USDA.
Community summer meal programs are open to all families and don’t ask for any paperwork- kids can just drop in. Programs with meals are offered at many different types of places, including schools, parks, community centers and faith-based organizations. Many offer fun activities that help kids stay active and keep learning during the summer when school is out.
Use the Summer Meals map search to find a site near you.
Start a Program
The Oregon Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs (ODE CNP) team can help communities and programs get started with summer meals. Visit their website for information.
Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon can also help answer questions and connect programs to resources:
- Check out the start-up and expansion grant program for summer meals
- Still have questions? Contact us at [email protected] and we’ll help find the answer!
Support Summer Meals Access
Many families have never heard of the Summer Food Service Program, or don’t know it’s open to all children and teens 1-18 years old. Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon help connect interested individuals to Summer Meals.
You can help parents and kids know about this important resource by donating to our work.
Outreach and Program Assistance
Hunger harms us all as a society, but it impacts some of us in Oregon far more than others.
Through our outreach, we work with the Oregon Department of Education and other partners to identify and help remove barriers for communities in providing or increasing access to summer food programs.
We document and share best practices through a variety of marketing, outreach and technical assistance resources.
WHEN SPREADING THE WORD
please be sure to include the following information
“Each Summer, free healthy meals are available to all children and teens 1-18 years old. To find the nearest summer meal site, visit SummerFoodOregon.org, call 2-1-1, or text “food”to 304-304.”
Advocacy
We identify opportunities for Summer Food Service Program improvement through our work with providers here in Oregon and monitoring efforts of other states. We advocate for these improvements through state and federal policy change, like Federal Child Nutrition Reauthorization.