Summer Food Service Program Meal Sites Available throughout Delaware

Delaware’s First Lady leads effort to ensure kids have access to healthy meals over summer

WILMINGTON, Del. – First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney and the Delaware Department of Education ask all Delawareans to spread the word about the availability of free meals this summer for children in need.

The Summer Food Service Program targets children in low-income areas to ensure they have nutritious meals during the summer. Children and teens 18 years old or younger are eligible to receive a meal at the open sites. It is a federally funded program operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and managed locally by the Delaware Department of Education.

“We’re asking all Delawareans to join in the fight against childhood hunger by spreading the word about the Summer Food Service Program,” said First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney. “Ensuring that every child has access to nutritious meals is a moral obligation that also supports the most urgent, practical goals we have for our state – for student engagement and achievement, for public health, and for a vibrant economy driven by a strong workforce.”

Delawareans can call “2-1-1” or text “food” or “comida” to 877-877 to find meal sites in Delaware.

“Children who depend on school food during the academic year still have needs when the school year ends,” said Susan Bunting, Secretary of the Delaware Department of Education. “The Summer Food Service Program provides nutritious meals to children in their own communities to meet their nutritional needs year-round.”

Last year, First Lady Carney led a task force in identifying new and innovative ways to increase access to child nutrition programs, specifically for families in rural areas when school is not in session. As a result, additional mobile meals programs, especially within participating school districts, were launched this summer, and aim to reach more rural children.

School District efforts to reach more children in 2018:

Woodbridge School District launched a mobile meals program, reaching children in their community who might not otherwise be able to get to their schools for meals.
Seaford School District launched an additional food truck.
Lake Forest School District joined the Summer Food Service Program for the first time this summer.
Smyrna School District launched Summer Food Service Program community sites for the first time.
Brandywine School District has a bus for mobile meals.
Colonial School District expanded its summer mobile meals program.
Red Clay, Capital and Caesar Rodney School Districts have expanded their Summer Food Service Programs.

Governor John Carney and First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney in April announced First Chance Delaware – an initiative led by the First Lady to recognize and facilitate effective partnerships, to share research and best practices, and to promote opportunities to collaborate in support of Delaware’s children. The Task Force to End Childhood Hunger is the first partnership to be recognized as a First Chance initiative. This task force’s specific goals include increasing participation and building partnerships in support of the Summer Food Service Program and alternative model school breakfasts.

Use the hashtag #summermealsDE to spread the word on social media.

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