During the summer months, families across New York state are often faced with the challenge of providing nutritious food for children who normally have access to healthy meals through their school. For many years, Hunger Solutions New York has partnered with libraries to help diminish hunger for children by maximizing participation in federally funded nutrition assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
This year, Hunger Solutions NY and the New York State Library have once again come together to promote participation in the Summer Meals program, to help provide access to lunches and snacks for children and teens during the summer. Libraries in eligible areas can take part in the Summer Meals program by hosting summer meal “sites” at their library locations, by providing valuable information for families who need assistance, and by bringing Summer Reading activities to schools and food distribution sites within the community.
With this year’s introduction of the new Summer EBT benefit, providing nutritious meals to children and families in need has never been easier. Through this program, families can receive a $120 food benefit card for each eligible child during summer break. This EBT food benefit card can be used to purchase food from grocery stores, farmers markets, and other SNAP-authorized retailers. To find out more and to access outreach materials in English and Spanish, please visit the Summer EBT webpage.
Libraries can further assist families by sharing the following tools to find sites near them:
- Text “food” to 304-304
- Use the map on SummerMealsNY.org
- Call 211 or 311 (in NYC) or 1-866-3-HUNGRY
Wishing you all a healthy and adventure filled summer!