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1 in 6

children in North Carolina face hunger

Keep North Carolina Kids Fed: Support SUN Bucks

Summer should be a time for fun and growth. But for 1 in 5 children in North Carolina, the end of the academic year brings the uncertainty of losing reliable, daily school meals.

Programs like SUN Bucks help fill this gap, and since 2024, North Carolina has used it to support families across the state.

SUN Bucks provides eligible families with $40 per month for three months, for a total of $120 per child for essential groceries during the summer months. This benefit gives hardworking parents the flexibility to buy healthy and nutritious food for their kids, working alongside traditional summer meals programs. Now, we must ensure this critical program continues to reach the families who use it to help bridge the gap when school meals are not available during the summer months.

SUN Bucks is a proven success for North Carolina families and local economies. Last summer alone, the program:

  • Supported approximately 1.1 million students across all 100 counties.

  • Brought over $130 million into North Carolina’s economy, benefiting local farmers markets, food retailers and supporting rural small businesses.

  • Generated a massive return on investment: For every $1 invested by the state, $26 comes back to North Carolina.

SUN Bucks is more than just meal support. It is an economic driver that helps the entire state thrive. Yet, its future requires action.

To keep this program going for summer 2027, the North Carolina General Assembly is working hard to allocate $5 million to fund SUN Bucks to ensure over a million children have the healthy meals they need to thrive next summer. Even a short time without this support can have lasting effects, forcing hardworking families to stretch limited resources, skip meals or make impossible trade-offs.

We encourage the General Assembly to continue to prioritize North Carolina children and fund SUN Bucks.