It may still be winter, but at No Kid Hungry Michigan, we’re thinking of summer meals all year long. For kids who rely on school breakfast, lunch, and afterschool meals, summer can be the hungriest time of year. Fortunately, schools and community organizations across Michigan are taking care of kids through summer meals programs, and making sure they get the healthy food they need.
No Kid Hungry Michigan is committed to supporting families and summer meals providers, and we have a number of resources available to make sure kids have access to the food they need to thrive.
Planning Resources
- Proactive Planning for Summer Meals Sponsors
- This year-round planning calendar is designed to support a program planning and implementation timeline that maximizes sponsor capacity to operate a sustainable summer meals program.
- Are Mobile Meals Right for Your Community?
- This resource will help you make a preliminary assessment to determine community need and organizational capacity for a mobile meals solution in your community.
- Maximizing Resources: Financial Strategies and Staffing Solutions For Non-Congregate Summer Meals
- Delve into effective strategies for optimizing budgets, leveraging community partnerships, and staffing solutions to ensure seamless operations and maximum impact in feeding children during the summer months.
- Expanding Programmatic Reach Through Freeze and Thaw Meal Programs
- This resource will explain how to start your own freeze and thaw program and tips and tricks to make it successful.
Implementation Resources
- Michigan Summer Meals Outreach Toolkit
- This toolkit was created to help you get the word out to families about Meet Up and Eat Up meals available for kids this summer. You will find a variety of ready to use and customizable materials—in both English and Spanish—to help you quickly and easily communicate with families, including social media images, sample social media posts, postcards and more.
- Rural Non-Congregate Summer Meal Programs: Understanding the Caregiver Experience
- No Kid Hungry conducted site observations at three different sites, each of which operated a different non-congregate model (grab-and-go, mobile meals, and delivery). Interviews with caregivers surfaced many recommendations for participant-centered summer non-congregate meal programs.
- Benefits of Hiring Student Workers in Summer Non-Congregate Programs
- No Kid Hungry awarded five summer non-congregate meal sponsors across the country funding to hire high school and college student workers for their summer 2024 operations. The sponsors utilized these workers to prep, pack, and distribute meals; survey families in person during pick-up; develop online surveys; create marketing materials; and help manage operations.
- Fueling Participation: Boost Engagement In Your Non-Congregate Summer Meals Program Through Marketing and Promotion
- Elevate your summer meal program’s reach and impact by watching our webinar! Gain invaluable insights into targeted marketing techniques designed to drive increased participation and ensure no child goes hungry during the summer break. From tailored outreach to social media utilization and community engagement, learn how to effectively promote your program and make a lasting difference in your community.
- Evaluating and Incorporating Feedback into Your Summer Meals Program
- Learn how three summer meals sponsors incorporate site, community, and kid’s feedback to improve their programs.
At No Kid Hungry Michigan, we are so grateful to our meal sponsors and providers across the state for making sure that kids have access to nutritious meals all summer long. For even more resources to help support your summer meals program, check out our Center for Best Practices Resource Library. If you need help implementing a summer meals program, or are looking for guidance or support, fill out our inquiry form and we’ll be in touch!