New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Edward Wengryn encouraged organizations to help provide nutritious meals to children in low-income areas during the summer months through the Department’s Summer Food Service Program.
The deadline for submission of new applications is March 17, 2025.
The Summer Food Program began in 1976 as an outgrowth of the National School Lunch Program. The Summer Food Service Program is designed to reach those who are ages 18 or younger in economically disadvantaged areas. It also is open to people over 18 who are mentally or physically disabled and who participate in public or nonprofit private programs established for people with disabilities.
The federally funded program reimburses participating organizations for meals served to children who live in areas in which at least 50 percent of the children qualify for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program.
Applicants may include public or private nonprofit school food authorities; units of local, municipal, county, or state governments; public or private nonprofit organizations; residential summer camps or national youth sports programs.
Organizations approved to sponsor the Summer Food Service Program are responsible for managing the feeding sites that provide meals to young children.
Most participating organizations may be reimbursed for up to two meals a day, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Meals may also be reimbursed for nights and weekends. Those serving primarily migrant children may be reimbursed for up to three meals a day.
Residential camps may serve up to three meals a day but are reimbursed only for meals served to children eligible for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program.
In school year 2023-2024, three School Food Authorities with a total of three sites participated in the National School Lunch Program’s Seamless Summer Option to provide 2,691 free lunches and 2,688 free breakfasts to children 18 and under. In 2024, 168 sponsors participated in the Summer Food Service Program serving 4,469,314 nutritious meals which included breakfast, lunches, dinners, and snacks to 1,261 summer meal sites.
In addition to the Summer Food Program, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Division of Food and Nutrition, administers a number of programs devoted to improving the quality and provision of food to New Jersey residents, in particular those most in need, including School Nutrition Programs and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
The Division of Food and Nutrition also administers The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which distributes federally donated commodities to six emergency feeding organizations statewide. These federally donated foods are distributed to more than 850 soup kitchens, food pantries, and public feeding sites serving the state’s neediest residents.
For more information on the Summer Food Service Program go to https://bit.ly/3PcNnPA or call (609) 292-4498.
