Moving to Atlanta: Free and Nutritious Meals Available to Georgia’s Children This Summer

As part of a state-wide initiative, free summer meals will be available to Georgia’s food-insecure children during May, June, July and August through the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) and Summer Food Service Programs (SFSP). Summer meals are targeted toward the 63 percent of school-aged children in Georgia who rely on free and reduced-price lunch for daily nutrition throughout the school year; nearly 85 percent of these children don't have access to nutritious summer meals and snacks. More than 20 percent of Georgia families reported not having enough food in 2014, and increasing access and awareness to summer meals is a shared initiative among the Georgia Food Bank Association: Feeding for a Promising Future – No Kid Hungry Campaign, national hunger-fighting non-profit Share Our Strength and the governor’s office.

Federally funded U.S. Department of Agriculture programs SSO and SFSP and administered by Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, along with its counterpart the Georgia Department of Education School Nutrition Programs, summer meals will be available in low-income communities where at least 50 percent of its children rely on free and reduced-price meals during the school year. Schools, local governments and private non-profits across the state will serve free meals and snacks at locations where children gather during the summer, including faith organizations, schools, summer camps and youth centers.