Summer Meals

Maryland’s Summer Food Service Program provides nutritious meals and snacks to children (ages 18 and under) in low-income areas during June, July, and August when school is not in session. Meals and snacks are served at sites which can be located at schools, community centers, faith-based organizations, local libraries, recreation centers and other places in neighborhoods across the state.

Free summer meals help families stretch their food budgets throughout the summer months. Serving free meals strengthens recreation and enrichment programs by providing a source of federal funding for nutritious food. Participation in summer programming and free summer meals helps to reduce learning loss for children, and helps them return to school ready to learn.

Types of Summer Meal Sites 

 

• Open congregate: Open sites allow any child under the age of 18 to receive a meal without prior registration or ID. Meals must be consumed on-site. Examples may include public libraries, parks, or schools. Open summer meal sites can be located at mdsummermeals.org starting after the local school district’s school year ends. 
• Closed congregate: Closed sites do not allow for walk-in meal service and are often centered around summer programming that require registration, such as sports clubs or summer camps. 
• Rural non-congregate: In eligible areas that are designated by USDA as “rural”, summer meals may be served in a grab and go style, which allows families to pick up multiple meals at a time for children to consume off-site. Non-congregate pick up locations often require either prior registration or registration on-site. Families can visit mdsummermeals.org to locate their nearest non-congregate meal site. 

Connecting to Summer Meals

 

• Families can visit mdsummermeals.org to locate the nearest open or non-congregate summer meal site. 
• Summer program operators who are interested in learning more or getting connected to the summer meal programs can reach out to Julia Gross at jgross@mdhungersolutions.org. 

Help spread the word about summer meals using sample graphics and social media post from USDA’s social media toolkit! 

Additional Summer Resources 

Maryland SUN Bucks is a summer nutrition assistance program that provides $40 of EBT benefits per month to eligible students during June, July, and August for a total of $120 in summer benefits. Maryland SUN Bucks can be used alongside the summer meal programs to help fill the summer nutrition gap. To learn more about Maryland SUN Bucks eligibility, please visit https://dhs.maryland.gov/sunbucks/.