Summer Meals Meets Children Where They Are
Summer break is usually depicted as a carefree season for children—but for many children living in rural parts of our service area, it’s the season when they lose access to one of their most dependable sources of daily nutrition.
While local school systems may offer summer feeding programs, many children in remote areas are unable to reach those sites due to transportation barriers, caregiver work schedules, or long distances. In these rural areas, 50 percent or more of the children qualify for free or reduced-price meals, highlighting how critical consistent access to food is.
One way the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank is bridging this gap is by distributing SUN Meals To-Go directly to rural communities throughout our service area. Thanks in part to funding from the USDA and the dedication of our partnering agencies and volunteers, we’re able to provide school-age children, 18 and under, with seven days of breakfast and lunch—14 meals, per week.
Unlike many of the other summer meal programs that require children to eat on-site during limited hours, SUN Meals To-Go is a take-home option. Throughout the summer, caregivers can visit one of the designated 13 pickup locations, weekly, and receive one box of meals, per child, for them to enjoy at home—making the program far more accessible to those with limited time or transportation.
“These children usually get a free or reduced-price lunch and breakfast during the whole school year, but during the summer they are not getting that,” explains Child Nutrition Programs Coordinator Cole Baker. “This program is substituting the breakfasts and lunches they would have gotten at school—they are just now getting in a box to take home.”
This is the second year the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank has participated in the program. Last year, we distributed 76,380 meals across six sites. This year, we have expanded to 13 sites across our 11-parish service area, and we are on track to distribute between 80,000 to 100,000 meals by summer’s end.
As of publication, we have distributed 57,050 meals, and the demand continues to grow.
Most of our distribution sites, 11 of 13, are libraries—making them natural community hubs for both learning and nourishment.
“The SUN Meals program has really impacted this community in many ways,” says April Garrett, Children’s Services Coordinator at Pointe Coupee Parish Library, “not just for the meals, but for everybody coming in to get library cards, check out books, and attend story times on distribution days.”
“It’s been an amazing opportunity for us to be part of the program. The community has expressed nothing but excitement and gratitude. People are realizing they don’t have library cards, so they’re getting them for themselves and their children,” Garrett explains. “They’re checking out books, joining story time, doing art projects, and reading together. It’s more than feeding kids food—it’s feeding them literature, and all the great things libraries have to offer.”
Beyond books and story time, the program meets families in practical, personal ways. “A lot of times, it’s grandparents or babysitters coming in with the kids to pick up their boxes,” Baker shares. “Many of the people that we serve don’t have transportation or the ability to get to congregate sites at certain times.”
“The SUN Meals Program is for any child,” Baker emphasizes. “It’s not just for people who are most in need for supplemental food or don’t have any access to food in the summer. There’s no income requirement for this—if your child is 18 or under, that’s your only requirement because this program is covering the breakfast and lunches they would have received if they were in school.”
Programs like this allow us to fill in the gaps when school is out—ensuring children have the nutrition they need to grow, learn, play and thrive.
Your support makes this possible.
It fuels more than meals, it creates lifelines in underserved communities, turns libraries into gathering spaces, and helps us reach families that would otherwise go without.
To learn more about ways you can get involved and help to fight hunger this summer, visit https://brfoodbank.org/get-involved/
Hunger Doesn’t Take a Summer Break
