Over 150 Organizations Call on Gov. Reynolds to Ensure Iowa Participates in Summer EBT in 2025

153 groups and organizations from across the state of Iowa have signed on to a letter calling on Gov. Kim Reynolds to ensure Iowa participates in the Summer EBT (SUN Bucks) program in 2025. The state of Iowa has a January 1st deadline to submit a notice of intent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to operate the program in 2025.

SUN Bucks would provide 245,000 children who qualify for free or reduced price school meals in Iowa with $120 in nutrition benefits during the summer while they are out of school. The program is evidence-based policy and has been shown to increase consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and dairy while reducing childhood food insecurity during the summer months. 

The letter and the list of co-signing organizations can be read in its entirety below.


Dear Gov. Reynolds,

We, the undersigned organizations, call on you to take action to ensure Iowa participates in the SUN Bucks (Summer EBT) program in 2025.

We are students. We are parents. We are people of faith. We are teachers. We are medical professionals. We are dieticians. We are farmers. We are social workers. We are staff and volunteers at food pantries and food rescue organizations. We are small business owners. We are advocates. We are union members. We are nonprofit leaders. We are county supervisors.  We are Iowans.

Right now, hundreds of thousands of our neighbors across the state are facing food insecurity. Families are being forced to make impossible choices between putting food on the table or making rent. Rising costs are taking their toll on workers whose paychecks just aren’t keeping up. Parents are skipping meals to make sure their kids are fed. 

Food banks, food pantries, and other emergency feeding organizations are assisting record-breaking numbers of Iowans, including staggering numbers of people turning to help for the first time.

In a country as wealthy as the United States of America, and in a state with as rich an agricultural tradition as Iowa, no child should ever go hungry. No matter who takes care of them, no matter where they live, no matter what.

SUN Bucks would provide $29 million in nutrition benefits to a quarter of a million children across the state next summer. While a $40 monthly benefit per eligible child may not seem like a large amount, it would absolutely make a meaningful difference in the lives of Iowa families.

Parents and other caregivers should be trusted to make the best food choices for their kids. Summer EBT is evidence-based policy, and has been shown to support healthy eating and reduce childhood food insecurity. SUN Bucks will not eradicate childhood hunger on its own, but it’s one of the best tools we have. We shouldn’t leave it on the table.

We are in this together. All of us, as Iowans, have a shared future. And that future lies in the next generation.

We hope you will do the right thing.

The time to act is now.

Signed (153),

4Cs Community Coordinated Child Care
AAUW Tama Toledo Branch
Agudas Achim Congregation
Amani Community Services
Ames Buddhist Mahasangha
AMOS
Ankeny First United Methodist Church
Ankeny Presbyterian Church
Asbury UMC
Aspire Behavioral Health Services, LLC
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley
Birds & Bees Urban Farm
Bread for the World – Story County Chapter
The Bridge Church
Burlington Area Homeless Shelter
Burns United Methodist Church
Capitol Hill Christian Church
Cedar Valley United Way
Charles E. Lakin Human Services Campus
Christ Community Church
Christ Lutheran Church
Clay County Hunger Coalition
Clive Community Services
Collegiate Presbyterian Church and The Vine, Ames
Collegiate United Methodist Church & Wesley Foundation
Common Good Iowa
Community Action of Southeast Iowa
Coralville Community Food Pantry
Corridor Community Action Network
Council Bluffs Community School District
Crawford County Clinic
CROSS Outreach
Decorah Food Pantry
Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC) Food Pantry Network
Des Moines Valley Friends Meeting
Dickinson County Hunger Coalition
Downtown Disciples
Drake Community Library
Dubuque Sisters of St. Francis
Episcopal Diocese of Iowa
Everybody Wins! Iowa
Families Forward
Family Planning of Southeast Iowa
Feed the Pack
Firefly
First Christian Church, Coralville
First Congregational Church of Marshalltown
Food Rescue Partnership
Fort Des Moines United Methodist Church
Franciscan Peace Center
Friends with Food
Grace Lutheran Church, Muscatine
Grinnell Farm to Table
Grinnell United Way
Handy’s Home Daycare and Preschool
Healthy Harvest of North Iowa
Heart of Iowa Big Brothers Big Sisters
Homestead 1839
IMPACT Community Action Partnership
Iowa Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Iowa ACEs 360
Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans
Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church Board of Church and Society
Iowa Catholic Conference
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Iowa Community Action Association
Iowa Community HUB
Iowa Farmers Union
Iowa Food System Coalition
Iowa Hunger Coalition
Iowa Interfaith Power & Light
Iowa Mental Health Advocacy
Iowa Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA)
Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice
Iowa State CAP Council
Iowa State Education Association
Iowa Unitarian Universalist Witness Advocacy Network (IUUWAN)
Iowa WTF
Johnson County Board of Supervisors
Johnson County Public Health
Johnston Partnership Place
Kenwood Park UMC
Latinas Unidas por un Nuevo Amanecer (L.U.N.A.)
LiUNA Local 177
LWV Metropolitan Des Moines
Marick Mechanical
Marshalltown Area United Way
Mary J Treglia Community House
Mayflower Congregational UCC
Meals on Wheels of Dickinson County
Middendorf Insurance
NAACP Des Moines
New Beginnings Christian Church
Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation
North Iowa Impact Team
North Liberty Community Pantry
North Liberty Library
Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church
Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist
Pepper Lane Creative
Plymouth Congregational Church
Polk County Board of Supervisors
Presbytery of Des Moines
Prevent Child Abuse Iowa
RESULTS Iowa
Resurrection Lutheran Church, Ankeny
SALUD-Multicultural Health Coalition of Storm Lake
The Salvation Army of Pottawattamie County, Iowa
Save the Children Action Network
Seeds of Faith Lutheran Church
Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton
Southeast Linn Community Center
Southeastern Iowa Synod, ELCA
Spencer Sacred Heart School
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
St. Paul Lutheran Church
St. Theresa Church
St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church
The Storm Lake United Methodist Church Food Distribution
Table to Table Food Distribution Network
Trinity Las Américas UMC
Together
UAW Region 4
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ames
United Action for Youth
United Way of Central Iowa
United Way of East Central Iowa
United Way of Dubuque Area Tri-States
United Way of Jasper County
United Way of Johnson & Washington Counties
United Way of Mahaska County
United Way of North Central Iowa
United Way of Southeast Iowa
United Way of Wapello County
United Way Quad Cities
United Ways of Iowa
United Women in Faith
Unity Church of Ames
Urbandale Food Pantry
Voluntary Action Center of the Iowa Great Lakes
Wakonda Christian Church
Walnut Hills United Methodist Church
Washington for Justice
Waterloo Schools Foundation
WeLIFT Job Search Center
West Central Community Action
Western Iowa Synod, ELCA
Woodside Acres
Young House Family Services
Young Women’s Resource Center

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