1 in 5
kids in Georgia face hunger
End Summer Hunger for Kids in Georgia
When school is out, many children lose access to the free or reduced-price meals they receive during the school year, making summer one of the hungriest times of year for kids. Communities use a combination of programs to help fill this gap, but in Georgia , families are missing something important: SUN Bucks, which the state has not yet chosen to implement.
SUN Bucks provides eligible Georgia families with $120 per child for the summer. The program could reach an estimated 1.2 million eligible kids in the state.
If state lawmakers opt in, Georgia could receive around $143 million in federal dollars, directly boosting local economies, especially in rural communities. Based on current estimates, that’s an expected economic impact of $214 million for the state.
While summer should be a time for fun and growth, for too many kids in Georgia , it’s a time of uncertainty. When school is out, families lose access to school meals, and the gap is often hardest in rural areas. According to a 2024 survey, nearly 80% of Georgia families who qualify for SUN Bucks report struggling to afford enough food during the summer months, and three-quarters (76%) say they have difficulty ensuring their kids get enough nutritious meals when school is out.
“Boy, we’d be getting fast food a whole lot less frequently and would instead be buying a surplus of fresh fruits, vegetables, pastas, meats, etc.,” said a mom from Gwinnett County.
SUN Bucks changes that. Each eligible child receives $120 for the summer, giving families the flexibility to buy the foods their kids actually need, without worrying about transportation to meal sites, stigma, or limited meal site hours.
The benefits of SUN Bucks are clear, and so is public support. A strong majority of Georgia adults (82%) believe the state should participate, while 76% worry that elected officials will decline federal funding despite the program’s permanent authorization.
Even a few months without this support can have lasting effects. Families often stretch limited resources, skip meals, or make impossible trade-offs.
This is a problem we can solve. State lawmakers have a clear choice: provide families with SUN Bucks support, or let millions of children face another summer without the healthy meals they need to thrive.
