365 Days of Service with Child Nutrition Programs

This resource can help you explore and understand options for making sure students are served outside of school times.

Proactive Planning for Summer Meals Sponsors

Use this guide as a framework for your organization’s step-by-step and month-by-month planning for summer meals.

Summer Food Service Program Overview

The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is a federally-funded, state-administered program. SFSP reimburses program operators who serve free healthy meals and snacks to children and teens in low-income areas.Learn key facts about the Summer Food Service Program for school districts and community organizations considering program sponsorship or other direct involvement in delivery of the program.

Successful Non-Congregate Meal Service Models for Rural Areas: Implementation Guide

This resource outlines effective non-congregate meal service models. Use this guide to find strategies and tactics to execute a successful non-congregate summer meals program in your rural community.

No Kid Hungry Summer Meals Calculator

This budgeting tool can help you plan for your summer meals program, including specific guidance on budgeting for mobile meals.

USDA’s Rural Designation Map and No Kid Hungry Summer Meals Eligibility Maps

These maps will show you if your area meets USDA’s definition of rural for the purpose of qualifying to provide non-congregate summer meals.

Rural Summer Meal Coverage Tool

The Rural Summer Meal Coverage Tool helps users identify opportunities to expand rural non-congregate summer meal service by discovering areas where this service is possible but not currently offered and areas where there may be kids without nearby access to summer meal sites.

No Kid Hungry Averaged Area Eligibility Map

This map can show you whether your summer meal site or day care home is in an area eligible location based on the USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s averaging policy.

How Schools and Community Organizations are Boosting Summer Meals
This insightful webinar focused how community-based organizations and school districts can collaborate to expand summer non-congregate service models in 2025. School district leaders and representatives from community organizations shared their successful partnership models and innovative approaches, along with examples of how partnerships have been used to effectively meet the needs of communities and enhance summer meal programs. This webinar was for sponsors, partners, and state agencies eager to explore innovative strategies for leveraging partnerships to meet community needs and increase access to summer meals.

Reaching Rural Families with Grab & Go: Ideas for Transforming Summer Meal Programs
Watch this engaging webinar designed for summer meal sponsors and partners, where we explored innovative grab-and-go program models tailored for rural non-congregate summer meal programs. This webinar had speakers representing community organizations and schools from coast to coast as they shared invaluable lessons learned, integrity plan insights, and effective staffing and volunteer strategies. In it, you can learn more about diverse multiple meal and bulk distribution models that have successfully addressed the unique challenges of rural settings. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain practical knowledge and program ideas from professionals dedicated to ensuring no child goes hungry this summer.

Reaching Kids with Home Delivery During the Summer

Home delivery for summer non-congregate meals is valued by participants but underutilized by sponsors for many reasons. Jody Buckle from Humboldt Unified School District in Arizona has made home delivery work for his community. See infographics and stories for inspiration for how this option can work in your district. Learn more about expanding summer meal access using home delivered meals from this pre-recorded, webinar.

Summer Success: Boosting Participation With Expert Menu Planning

Bulk Meal Offerings for Summer Non-Congregate

Bulk meals are slowly being introduced in states across the country, as a way to offer more convenience and choice to families during the summer. A bulk meal service contains ingredients for meals that require minimal preparation – like a loaf of bread and turkey slices – rather than prepared meals. The Osage Prairie YMCA in Missouri creates detailed menus and instructions for how to use the contents to make up a portion and a reimbursable meal.

Tips for Staffing Summer Meals Programs

No Kid Hungry gathered advice from summer nutrition heroes who have found innovative ways to ensure that their programs stay afloat in the summertime with passionate and dedicated staff.

Benefits of Hiring Student Workers in Summer Non-Congregate Programs

Summer non-congregate meal programs have proven essential in providing students with meals while school is out. Based on reports from No Kid Hungry grantees, employing students is beneficial to summer non-congregate programs. The impacts of hiring student workers may include reduced stigma, improved outreach, expanded capacity, relationship building, and student growth. Download this resource to learn more about the benefits hiring local high school and college student workers. 

The Summer Meals Student Workforce Toolkit

This toolkit serves as a comprehensive guide for recruiting, training, and managing student workers in summer meals programs. It is designed to guide schools and community organizations on incorporating student employees into their meals programs. Specifically, high school and college students can provide tremendous value to schools and anti-hunger organizations in various ways, including capacity, relationships, and perspective. This toolkit offers organizations guidance, resources and a framework for hiring and supporting youth employees in summer meals programs.

Maximizing Resources: Financial Strategies and Staffing Solutions For Non-Congregate Summer Meals

Watch this insightful webinar tailored to financial management and staffing considerations in non-congregate summer meals programs. 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. Learn from experts in the field and gain practical insights to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of your program, empowering you to make a lasting difference in combating childhood hunger.

Fueling Participation: Boost Engagement In Your Non-Congregate Summer Meals Program Through Marketing and Promotion

Rural Non-Congregate Summer Meal Programs: Understanding the Caregiver Experience
As meal providers begin operating rural non-congregate summer meal service, we want to be able to understand and share models, messaging, and approaches that work best for families participating in the program. With that in mind, No Kid Hungry conducted site observations at three different sites in summer 2023, 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. In addition to the video, the attached report also summarizes findings and recommendations.