Two ways to reduce childhood hunger in Oregon this summer

The Summer Food Service Program offers free, nutritious meals at sites all over the state and the Summer EBT program provides $120 per eligible child for groceries.

Nearly 30 million children participate in USDA’s school breakfast and lunch programs on an average school day. When school is out for the summer, kids lose access to these healthy meals, but they still need nutritious food to grow healthy and strong. This year, there are now two programs in Oregon that will improve access until school starts again in the fall.

Summer Food Service Program

The Summer Food Service Program helps fill the gap by providing free nutritious meals to children and teens over the summer months. Free meals and enrichment activities are offered at more than 450 locations throughout the state including many schools, parks and other non-profit organizations.

Meals are available to any child 18 and under without regard to race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), age or disability.

Finding Meal Sites

There are more than 450 summer meal sites in Oregon alone.

Families can look up meal locations in their area by:

• Calling 2-1-1

• Texting “Food” or “Comida” to 304-304

• Visiting Summer Food Oregon

If you have questions about the Summer Food Service Program, please email ODE Community Nutrition Manager Meghan Tschida or call (971) 701- 9004.

Summer EBT Reminder

As the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) and ODE announced earlier this month, the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) is a new grocery benefits program that starts this summer. It helps families buy food for their school-aged children during the summer when school is out. Families will get $120 for each eligible child. They will receive the benefits in one payment on an Oregon EBT card.

Families that have SNAP, TANF or OHP don’t need to apply. Summer EBT food benefits will be added to their Oregon EBT card automatically. Families will get a letter for each eligible child by mail or email when their benefits have been sent.

Families that do not have SNAP, TANF or OHP and may be eligible will need to apply. Children are likely to qualify if they go to schools with free or reduced-price meal programs and live in households that meet income requirements for those programs. Families can go to sebt.oregon.gov to check if their child may be eligible. They can also sign up to get a notification by text or email when it’s time to fill out and submit the application.

For more information about Summer EBT, visit sebt.oregon.gov or ebtv.oregon.gov for Spanish language content.