Each summer, metro Atlanta school districts distribute free meals to students through a federal program started in 1975. Although the plan is federally funded, it’s distributed locally by schools, non-profits and faith-based organizations. During the pandemic, Congress issued waivers that made the program more flexible.
“What we’ve seen through this is incredible innovations through summer meal programs that allowed ‘Grab and Go’ meals to be served, allowed parents to pick up bulk meals, created incredible flexibility with the types of meals that were able to be served and how parents and kids were able to access those meals during the school year,” says Lucy Coady, the director of the No Kid Hungry Campaign.
The waivers will expire on June 30 if Congress doesn’t renew them. Some senators have introduced a bill that would do that, but it seems to have stalled.
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