Baltimore County is expanding its free meal programs this summer by opening two rural bulk pickup sites — and offering on-site lunch at 16 different locations.
Every child is eligible to receive the free meals, unlike school-sponsored free breakfast and lunch programs. This is the first year the U.S. Department of Agriculture is funding the SUN Meals-to-Go rural drive-throughs, like the new ones in Baltimore County, in all but two states nationwide.
The department is also launching SUN Bucks, a $120-per-child grocery stipend that parents can access in addition to programs like SNAP and TANF.
Sakeenah Shabazz, a senior policy advisor for the Food and Nutrition Service, said these programs came from pilot versions tested during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A lot of the learning from that came from a time when a lot of families were struggling,” Shabazz said. “We often see a spike in demand in resources for meals and for children over the course of summertime. And also with the cost of food going up and that putting a lot of pressure on families' wallets, we want to be able to relieve some of that pressure.”
Baltimore County officially started their free summer meal programs last week. Local and national leaders gathered Friday at Dundalk’s public library to celebrate the kickoff.
“We know that summer is not a time when hunger takes a vacation,” said County Executive Johnny Olszewski. “So neither can we, in terms of providing meals for our young people. And so anyone under the age of 18, at our libraries and other sites throughout the county can go in, get their meal, make sure that they're nourished, so that they can continue learning and thriving this summer.”
Kingsville Elementary School and Sparks Elementary School will begin handing out a week's-worth of free breakfast and lunch meals — five each per child — this week, on Mondays and Tuesdays respectively.
Olszewski said these expansions represent a partnership across stakeholders dedicated to reaching rural residents.
“We know that we are primarily a more urbanized county,” he said. “But we also have residents living all the way up to the Pennsylvania line, and we can't leave anyone behind. And so we think that particularly these bulk sites, where families can come one time and be fed for a week, will really help meet the need up in northern Baltimore County.”
Pauline Harris brought her grandson to the official kickoff to receive a free meal for the first time. She said it won’t be their last.
“Everything's expensive nowadays,” she said. “I'm his primary caretaker during the week, five days a week, sometimes six or seven. And helping out with a meal is great, because that takes the stress off of me having to run out to the store, and it's already prepared.”
She also said the on-site meals provide opportunities for her grandson to socialize with other kids.
Conni Strittmatter, the youth and family engagement manager for Baltimore County Libraries, said the local meal sites have that social aspect in mind.
“The library is a natural place for families to come and get those free meals because we have activities all summer long,” she said. “Families are already coming to us for that. We're free and open to anybody. So we know that we're just a natural location for those meals to be served.”
Strittmatter said summer meals are especially important because they cater to all children — not just those in the public school system who rely on the free meals during the school year.
“It's important for us to serve every child who comes in, whether they're a public school student, a private school student, a homeschool student, because we know that that need exists, regardless of where the child goes to school,” she said.
Harris said she and her grandson don’t live near the two bulk pickup sites opening this year. But she says she would use them if they were closer.
Shabazz said the USDA is hoping to open more sites in coming years — and to offer the SUN Bucks grocery stipend in more locations, too.
Last year, the USDA received $3.5 billion to support the summer meal programs. The department funneled $16.4 million of that into Maryland. The rest is funded by state and local partners, like school systems and governments.
“The USDA really is like the machinery behind a lot of our summer meal programs,” Shabazz said. “We administer them and design these programs at the national levels, And we work with our regional partners, our state partners and our partners on the ground to make sure that these programs operate.”
The SUN bucks program has a budget of $2.7 billion for this summer. Families enrolled in SNAP and TANF automatically qualify, Shabazz said. She estimates that there are nearly 500,000 eligible children in Maryland, which would total around $60 million to be spent on the state’s summer grocery stipends.
