The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is a federal Child Nutrition Program that provides free, nutritious meals to all children 18 years of age and younger during the summer months. There are no income or residency requirements for children to participate. All Summer Meals are free! Meals may be served at schools, camps, or community based organization sites. Activities are also offered to children who participate in the program.

Unfortunately, many children in New York State are not participating in this invaluable program. Statistics show that 71% of eligible schoolchildren participate in the School Lunch Program, while only 23.6% participate in the Summer Food Program. As a result, many children in our state do not have access to enough nutritious food during the summer months. There are many reasons that this program is underutilized, including lack of knowledge about the program, lack of access to the program, inadequate funding for the program, and lack of sites. Please encourage the children in your community to participate! To locate a site in your community or for further information, please contact the New York State Growing Up Healthy Hotline toll-free at 1-800-522-5006.

The SFSP is administered at the New York State level through the NYS Department of Education.

Summer Food Service Program Sites & Sponsors
Meals are served at Summer Food Service Program sites, which may be school facilities, camps, community centers, youth and recreation centers, or other community based organization sites, including EFP sites. A site is responsible for maintaining a clean environment, food service, documentation, program operation and fun recreational activities. Starting in July of each year, Hunger Action distributes customized flyers listing the SFSP sites in various counties. To receive a flyer, contact Hunger Action Network.

Each site that administers the Summer Food Program has a program “sponsor.” The sponsor is responsible for supervising and training site coordinators, completing necessary paperwork, distributing food and recruiting SFSP sites.

Helpful Resources on Summer Food Service Program