Worcester Public Schools receives more than $13,000 in new state funding to help provide free summer meals for children as Massachusetts officials push to expand food access amid rising grocery costs and growing concerns about hunger.
The Healey-Driscoll administration announced this week that it awarded a combined $535,000 to 55 organizations across Massachusetts that sponsor and operate Summer Eats meal sites, including Worcester Public Schools, Friendly House and several other Central Massachusetts organizations.
Worcester Public Schools received $13,340 through the grant program, while Friendly House in Worcester received $9,835. Other nearby recipients included Millbury Public Schools, Oxford Public Schools, Southbridge Public Schools and Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District.
The funding supports Summer Eats, a federally funded program that provides free meals to anyone 18 and younger during the summer months, when school cafeterias are closed and many families lose access to regular school breakfasts and lunches.
Meal sites operate at schools, parks, summer programs and community centers throughout the state.
“We are making sure that no child in Massachusetts goes hungry during the summer months,” Gov. Maura Healey said in the administration’s announcement. “As families face rising grocery costs and federal cuts to food assistance, programs like Summer Eats are more important than ever.”
Last summer, the program served an average of 59,000 children per day statewide and distributed roughly 2.5 million meals, according to the administration.
The new grants were issued following a statewide push to recruit additional organizations to host meal sites and expand access in communities facing increased food insecurity.
The administration has also recently focused on broader anti-hunger efforts, including making universal free school meals permanent in Massachusetts and convening a statewide Anti-Hunger Task Force.
“We know that families’ grocery bills increase in the summer when kids do not have access to school meals,” Education Secretary Steve Zrike said in the announcement. “With federal cuts to SNAP benefits and rising food insecurity, access to programs like Summer Eats has never been more important.”
Project Bread, which helps coordinate outreach for Summer Eats sites statewide, said the need remains significant across Massachusetts.
“Summer Eats is a vital program for the 37 percent of Massachusetts households with children currently struggling to afford enough to eat,” Erin McAleer, president and CEO of Project Bread, said in the announcement.
Many Summer Eats sites are expected to begin operating before July 4 and continue through the end of August.
Families can find participating meal locations through Project Bread’s website during the summer months.
