As the weather warms up and the days get longer, we find ourselves getting closer and closer to summer – and with summer comes summer meals! While you may still be focused on finishing out the school year, a successful summer meals program starts with strong planning. No Kid Hungry California is here to help. No Kid Hungry’s Center for Best Practices offers a variety of resources for summer meals sponsors of all levels of experience. Not sure where to start? Here’s some of our favorite resources:
Mapping & Area Eligibility:
- Navigating Area Eligibility In Summer And Afterschool Meals
- No Kid Hungry Summer Meals Eligibility Map
- Rural Summer Meal Coverage Tool
Operational Support
- Proactive Planning for Summer Meals Sponsors*
- How a School District Can Offer Home Delivery of Meals During the Summer
- Successful Non-Congregate Meal Service Models for Rural Areas: Implementation Guide
- Feeding A Crowd – Tips For Congregate Meal Service
- Managing Costs In School Nutrition Programs
Generating Program Support
- Bridging the Gap: Building Authentic Partnerships Between Urban and Rural Organizations
- Summer Meals in Libraries
- Conversation Starters for Designing More Inclusive School Meals Programs
Curious about how other sponsors are operating in California? Check out our spotlights from our 2024 Summer Spotlight Series, featuring six school districts and community organizations who weathered the extreme summer heat and distances to get summer meals to kids!
- Val Verde Unified School District (Riverside County)
- Ocean View School District (Ventura County)
- Redwood Empire Food Bank (Sonoma County)
- Feeding San Diego (San Diego County)
- Lodi Unified School District (San Joaquin County)
- Morongo Unified School District (San Bernardino County)
Have more questions or need technical assistance? Reach out to the No Kid Hungry California team at nokidhungryca[at]strength.org. When we work together, we can make sure that every child across California has access to three meals a day, 365 days a year.
Last update: April 9, 2025
