For many students, school meals are the most nutritious meal they eat in a day. And for some, school meals are their only meals, according to a 2010 White House report.
But when school is out for the summer, hunger doesn’t take a vacation. Families who struggle to feed their children during the school year have an even harder time covering their child’s five to ten extra meals per week from June through August.
What would help
Currently, the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act (H.R. 8450) is making its way through Congress. It contains a number of important measures to address rampant child hunger and improve child nutrition in the US. One of these measures is the creation of a permanent nationwide Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Program to help families afford groceries during summer when school is out and hunger rates rise.
Through this program, families with children who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals would get financial assistance over the summer. They would receive $75 in grocery benefits per child every month of summer vacation.
This program was first tested a decade ago in two states where the USDA found that it cut very low food security over summer months by a third. When schools across the nation closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress moved quickly to implement a Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) program to replace lost school meals, providing eligible families with an EBT card to purchase food, just like a SNAP/food stamps card.
P-EBT helped feed nearly 1 million Pennsylvania children when school was out. In 2021, Congress added a P-EBT benefit for summer months as well.
Why families need this now
Just Harvest has been working to help struggling families access P-EBT since the program began. Schools are back in session, or close to it, yet every day we are contacted by a mother, father, or grandparent asking when this year’s Summer P-EBT benefit will be available.
With food prices high and possibly still climbing, families are still in real need of this summer assistance. There is no reason they should go without it. A permanent federal Summer EBT would make sure they never have to again.
What you can do
Urge Congress to ease the financial burden on struggling families and make sure every child gets the nutrients they need all year long. No child in this country should spend their summer days hungry.
Use the quick and easy form on this page to tell Sen. Casey, Sen. Toomey, and your U.S. Representative: All kids deserve full tummies, good health, and a bright future.
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