Digging into the Summer Meal Program Expansion Grant Award Announcement

Last Thursday, May 23, the state of Iowa announced the grant awardees for the Summer Meal Program Expansion Grant through the Iowa Department of Education. 38 school districts and host organizations were awarded a total of $900,000 to launch 61 new meal sites across the state this summer. In 2023, the average daily attendance at summer meal sites in Iowa was 21,557, reaching less than 10% of students who qualified for free and reduced price school meals.

A full list of summer meal sites for 2024 in Iowa is not yet available, but if all 512 sites from 2023 return in addition to the 61 grant award sites, the grant program will:

  • Expand the number of summer meal sites in Iowa by 11%

  • Establish summer meal sites at 12 school districts that did not host a site in 2023

  • Support purchases of locally-grown foods

The Iowa Hunger Coalition commends the Iowa Department of Education for allocating $900,000 in American Rescue Plan funding to expand meal sites this summer. About one-third of grant funding was directed to areas that did not previously have a summer meal site in 2023. This investment will certainly have a positive impact for thousands of low-income children in Iowa who could not previously access summer meals.

However, there are still numerous barriers that exist in accessing summer meal sites, even when they are closer in proximity. Most sites require students to eat the meal on-site, though some rural areas are permitted to operate “grab and go” meals. If parents or caregivers are present, in most cases they are not provided a meal, or must pay for it themselves. Children who are staying at home alone may not be able to travel to meal sites, even if they are nearby.

Summer meal sites can vary greatly in their accessibility. While most sites are “open,” meaning any child can access a free meal on a first-come, first-served basis, some sites operate as “closed enrolled” or “camp,” meaning they are only available to students enrolled in a program or camp. In 2023, 398 of 512 summer meal sites (78%) operated as “open.”

Hours and days of operation can vary from site to site as well. Many sites operate Monday-Friday, but others are only available one or two days a week. Some serve breakfast and lunch, while others only serve one meal, or in some cases, just an afternoon snack. Meal sites may only serve food within a short window of time that not all children are able to attend. Many sites operate June through August, but others are only available for a single month during the summer.

Even with the expansion grant, 176 of 327 public school districts in Iowa (54%) are not expected to have a summer meal site available in 2024. Collectively, these school districts are home to 45,843 students who qualify for free or reduced price school meals—and will have no access to school meals this summer. Had the state of Iowa participated in Summer EBT, these students would have received a total of $5.5 million in nutrition benefits.

Last December, the state of Iowa announced it would not be participating in Summer EBT, and would instead be exploring options to expand existing programs. The Summer Meal Program Expansion Grant Program was subsequently announced on April 10, 2024.

Summer EBT, also now known as SUN Bucks, is a federal childhood nutrition program that provides $40 in monthly nutrition benefits during the summer to children who qualify for free and reduced price school meals. The program is intended to complement, not replace, other USDA child nutrition programs like the Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option.

245,000 children in Iowa would have benefitted from Summer EBT, starting in just a few days, had the state chosen to participate in the program. $29 million in benefit amounts would have supported children and families who struggle to put food on the table during the summer. It would have cost the state about $9 per child to provide them with $120 in nutrition benefits.

The USDA has conducted research on Summer EBT going back to 2011, and found evidence that providing additional nutrition benefits to kids during the summer reduces childhood food insecurity and increases consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and dairy (with no increase in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages).

In most cases, the amount of Summer EBT benefits that students would have received greatly surpasses the amount of funding granted to organizations to expand summer meal sites. In two instances, the grant award to expand summer meal sites was larger than the amount of money that would have been allocated to students through Summer EBT.

  • Central Community School District was awarded $51,557 to open four summer meal sites this summer—the single largest grant award both in funding amount and number of new sites. Central Community School District did not operate any summer meal sites in 2023. There are 196 students (43% of student body) who receive free or reduced price school meals in the district, and Summer EBT would have provided a total of $23,520 in nutrition benefits to those 196 students.

  • Colo-NESCO Community School District was awarded $39,918 to open three summer meal sites this summer. The district operated one summer meal site in 2023. There are 154 students (45% of student body) who receive free or reduced price school meals in the district, and Summer EBT would have provided a total of $18,480 in nutrition benefits to those 154 students.

The Iowa Hunger Coalition anxiously awaits a complete list of 2024 summer meal sites, which will enable a more detailed analysis of the impact of the new grant program and summer meal access to be conducted.

More Details on New Summer Meal Sites and Grant Awardees

The grant awards went to 38 sponsor organizations, including:

  • 35 school districts, 12 of which (34%) did not host a summer site in 2023

  • One private school district who did not host a site in 2023, Saint Albert Catholic School/Council Bluffs Area Catholic Education System

  • Two nonprofit organizations, including one that did not host a site in 2023, Story Medical Center, which is hosting three sites located within Collins-Maxwell Community School District
    • In 2023, Collins-Maxwell Community School District hosted a site at Collins-Maxwell Elementary School—Story Medical Center received grant funding to operate a site there in 2024

  • In total, 14 of the 38 grantees did not host a site in 2023 (37%)

The grants will support 61 new summer meal sites, including:

  • 11 of 12 awarded school districts who did not operate a summer meal site in 2023 were each granted $16,639 to open a single (1) summer site in 2024

    • In total, 3,817 (37% of student body) students of these districts qualify for free or reduced price school meals

    • The private school district is also launching a single site with a $16,639 grant

  • The other new district, Central Community School District, received a grant of $51,557 to launch four sites in Summer 2024 – the most sites of any grant awarded and largest award amount.

    • 196 students (43% of student body) qualify for free or reduced price school meals

    • It would have only cost $23,520 to provide Summer EBT for these students, less than half the cost of this grant program

  • Among the 23 school districts that DID operate summer meal sites in 2023:

    • 11 were each granted $16,639 to open an additional one (1) site in 2024:
      • Five of these 11 districts operated one site in 2023
      • Two of these 11 districts (Riceville and Spencer) operated two sites in 2023
      • Two of these 11 districts (Vinton-Shellsburg and Maple Valley-Anthon Oto) operated four sites in 2023
      • Iowa City operated 16 sites in 2023
      • Waterloo operated 19 sites in 2023

    • Six were each granted $28,279 to open an additional two (2) sites in 2024:
      • Des Moines Independent School District, which operated 46 sites in 2023 
      • Estherville Lincoln Community School District, which operated one site
      • Oskaloosa Community School District, which operated five sites
      • Riverside Community School District, which operated one site
      • Shenandoah Community School District, which operated five sites
      • Waukee Community School District, which operated five sites
  • Six were each granted $39,918 to open an additional three (3) sites in 2024:
    • Cedar Rapids Community School District, which operated 27 sites in 2023 
    • Colo-NESCO Community School District, which operated one site
    • Council Bluffs Community School District, which operated 15 sites
    • Davenport Community School District, which operated 21 sites
    • Hampton Dumont Community School District, which operated one site
    • Ottumwa Community School District, which operated six sites

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