Thanks to state budget action initiated by State Senator Nancy Skinner [1] (District 9), California became the first state in the nation to offer two free meals each day to all K-12 public school students.
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Schools are now on summer break, but “kids can still get free meals at many locations throughout our community,” Senator Skinner reported in her latest newsletter.
The following free summer meals sites in Alameda are open Monday through Friday—unless otherwise specified—to all youth 18 and under. Meals are offered at the times listed:
- Alameda Boys & Girls Club [3], 1900 3rd Street: Breakfast 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., lunch noon to 1 p.m.
- Alameda Point Collaborative [4], 2471 Orion Street: Breakfast 8 to 9:30 a.m., lunch noon to 1 p.m.
- Academy of Alameda [5], 401 Pacific Avenue: Breakfast 8 to 9:30 a.m., lunch noon to 1 p.m.
- Shinsei Garden Apartments: 401 Stargell Avenue: Lunch only, Monday, Tuesday, and Friday noon to 1 p.m.
Summer meals also are available at other sites throughout Alameda County, as listed on the California Department of Education 2024 Summer Meal Sites [6] web page.
“Please share this information with families you know,” Senator Skinner emphasized. “No child should go hungry just because school is out of session.”
SUN Bucks—new program provides extra cash for food during the summer
Starting this summer, families in California can buy more food for their children with California SUN Bucks [7], also called Summer-EBT. SUN Bucks provides $40 per month for food for June, July and August 2024 ($120 total).
Children who qualify for free or reduced-price school meals through a school meal application or an Alternative Income Form, or whose families already receive CalFresh, CalWORKs, or Medi-Cal benefits, are automatically enrolled. These families should receive SUN Bucks cards through the mail, starting in mid-June.
Due to the large volume of automatically eligible children (nearly 5 million), the cards will be sent out in stages.
- Stage 1: Automatically enrolled kids will begin receiving their cards mid-June and continuing through August.
- Stage 2: Kids who were not automatically enrolled but were determined to be eligible based on Alternative Income Forms, school meal applications, or are getting CalWORKs, CalFresh, or Medi-Cal (below 185% FPL) will receive their cards after the Stage 1 cards are mailed out.
Regardless of when the card is issued, every SUN Bucks card will be loaded with the full $120 per child.
Detailed information is available online at California SUN Bucks [8].