On a warm Tuesday in late July, a blue van marked with a Transylvania County Schools logo pulled into a gravel driveway and let out a light honk. Seconds later, the door of a house swung open. Two children bounded down the steps and into the arms of the van’s passengers — school nutrition employees the students know well because during the school year, they work in their school’s cafeteria.

The employees greeted the children and their parents, reached into the back of the van, and pulled out food from an insulated container. Prepared earlier that morning in the school cafeteria, lunch that day was tacos made with local .

“It’s taco Tuesday!” one of the children announced.

Each child took a bag containing a hot lunch and a breakfast for the next day. The school nutrition employees said a quick goodbye before buckling back in the van and heading to their next stop. “See you tomorrow!” they called out.

This scene unfolds Monday through Thursday, every week of summer break, rain or shine or heat wave, as Transylvania County Schools nutrition staff drive three routes across the rural, mountainous county to deliver free summer meals directly to more than 200children.

And while it is the district’s third year delivering summer meals, that approach is still rare statewide, with just five sponsors offering it. It’s also rare for programs to offer daily hot meals, with many instead providing boxes with multiple days worth of shelf-stable or frozen items.

Janette Broda, director of school nutrition in , said the motivation behind the district’s summer meals program is to meet families where they are, keep staff employed during the summer months, and offer high-quality meals to children who need it the most. And while it’s more expensive to provide fresh food, she is committed to providing children with the best quality nutrition possible.

“If we’re feeding children, don’t we want to give them fruits and vegetables? Isn’t that what the program is about?” she said. “My guiding light is: Would I serve this food to my own children who are 9 and 11? And if the answer is no, why would I serve it to these children just because it might be cheaper?”

Transylvania County’s summer meals program has not only become a model in the state — it’s also informing national best practices. In January, Broda joined staff from the (CHI) in Washington, D.C. for . There, she spoke on a panel about innovative strategies used to reach children in “ultra-rural” communities.

“She (Broda) is serving a hot meal every day in home delivery, and that’s not a thing that really any other sponsors are doing,” said Thompson Bertschy, program specialist at the CHI, where he provides support to summer meals sponsors. “And it’s just because she’s so committed and passionate … She’s operating the program to its fullest extent.”

New summer meals models emerge

In 2022, Congress passed legislation that to the federal summer meals program. Beginning in the summer of 2023, sponsors in low-income, rural areas had the permanent option of providing summer meals that can be eaten off-site — also called or non-congregate meals — through models like drive-thru, walk-up, home delivery, and more.

Previously, all summer meals had to be eaten at a specific location, like at a public park or library. That requirement created numerous barriers to access, particularly in rural communities where children without transportation often can’t reach sites.

Now, in Transylvania County, any child can access free summer meals to-go through one of three models.

A “groceries to-go” model is offered once a week at Pisgah Forest Elementary. Parents drive through a pickup line and receive all the ingredients needed for seven days of breakfast and lunch. That includes frozen meat patties, whole-grain bread, a gallon of milk, and fresh, often-local produce (families received bags of local heirloom tomatoes, plus apples and oranges, on the day EdNC visited).

Alternatively, families can pick up hot lunches and breakfast for the next day, Monday through Thursday, in the parking lot of a local pool. On Thursdays, additional shelf-stable items are provided to cover breakfast and lunch over the weekend.

But for families facing transportation barriers, a third model — home delivery — provides a crucial solution.

“Those barriers can look like no transportation at all, or a one-vehicle family, or a grandmother who’s taking care of multiple children, or if their road is hard to access, or if we’re hard to access for them,” Broda said. 

SUN Meals To-Go has gained traction across the state, with more sponsors offering it each year. According to the CHI, there were seven SUN Meals To-Go sponsors in summer 2023, 33 sponsors in summer 2024, , and 60 sponsors in summer 2026.

This growth has allowed sponsors to reach more children. In summer 2025, 5.3 million summer meals were served across the state, up from 4.2 million meals served in summer 2024, according to the CHI.

How home delivery in Transylvania County grew out of moments of crisis

Transylvania County, tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains between Asheville and Greenville, South Carolina, is also called the “Land of Waterfalls.” The county is home to roughly 30,000 residents, 250 waterfalls, and multiple national forests — attracting tourists and retirees alike.

“It may look affluent — we have a lot of second and third homes here,” Broda said. But the reality is that are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals.

During the school year, the district uses the federal , available to districts in low-income areas, to provide all students with breakfast and lunch for free. But “hunger doesn’t stop when the school year ends,” Broda said, making summer meals a vital support for the district’s students.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, federal waivers provided schools with the flexibility to offer meals through grab-and-go, curbside pick-up, and home delivery. Soon after schools closed, Transylvania County Schools to ensure students were still being fed.

“There are three or four trailer park developments that are on top of a mountain with huge poverty, and the children who live in those trailer park areas really can’t access anything,” Broda said. “Our staff are part of that community as well, and they know who the children are. It was a grassroots effort — going out, having sign-ups, and speaking to the community.”

When home delivery became a permanent option in 2023 through SUN Meals To-Go, Broda said the district used lessons learned from delivering meals during the pandemic to inform its home delivery approach, which launched in the summer of 2024.

But another crisis was right around the corner. In September 2024, just one month into the school year, caused widespread devastation across western North Carolina, wiping out roads, knocking down trees and power lines, and flooding homes. 

Communications were down across the county for days, but Broda used word of mouth and walkie-talkies to convene staff at the district’s warehouse. Whoever showed up went to work on feeding students. Once again, the district’s prior experience with home delivery proved valuable.

“After the hurricane, that (next) Monday, we were out serving meals. We were closed for two weeks, but we knew how to get meals to the children because we had these routes established from the summer time,” Broda said.

Recognizing there was greater need across the county after Helene, one home delivery route in summer 2024 expanded to two routes in summer 2025 and three routes in summer 2026, aided by funding from the CHI that helped the district purchase materials, supplies, and an additional vehicle.

What does it take to deliver summer meals?

Broda is the first to admit that delivering summer meals is hard, particularly on top of the other responsibilities her team has for serving meals during the school year.

“There’s a commitment there — both for children and for staff to be employed,” she said. “But we haven’t even ended last fiscal year. We are still being audited for last school year, we started summer, and we have to prepare for the next school year … we’re doing that all at the same time.”

Broda describes home delivery as a “daily grind” — she never wants to cancel a delivery, so when challenges arise or a staff member can’t make it in, there’s a constant need to iterate and adapt. There’s also the heat, the rain, the traffic, and the 10-hour shifts, all when staff could otherwise be taking a well-earned break.

But at the end of the day, it’s all worth it, Broda said, because “a lot of kids don’t go home to a fridge that’s full.” 

“Our staff put their heart and soul and sweat in this every single day,” she said. “These are their cafeteria ladies — (the children) know them … and that’s why our staff get back in the vehicle every day.”

Broda said she and her staff work together to make the program as effective as possible, learning from challenges and iterating each year to improve operations and reach more children. And while she believes there is no one-size-fits-all approach to home delivery, factors that have contributed to the program’s success include:

• Sound and shared logistics: The district distributes a Google Form in late May to collect signups for home delivery. Parents or guardians have to provide their address, the children’s names, and a phone number and email address. The district also uses Google Sheets to document everything about the home delivery program, including delivery routes, accountability procedures, eligibility criteria, and more. Using these shared tools allows all staff to seamlessly access information about the program and iterate quickly.
• Consistent delivery times: Families need to know meals will show up at roughly the same time each day so they can be available to receive them. Once signups were collected, routes were created using a combination of artificial intelligence and staff’s knowledge of local roads. Each route runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and families are given an approximate delivery time based on their sequence in the route. Week over week, that time gets more consistent as the routes are formalized. Instead of approaching doors, staff honk. If no one comes out, they call, and if no one answers, they move on to the next stop.
• Clear communication with families and staff flexibility: In an effort to reduce food waste, families are encouraged to contact the district when they know they won’t be available, and routes can be adjusted to arrive at better times as needed. Broda said staff learned to remain flexible, open-minded, and ready to adjust delivery routes quickly to best meet families’ needs.
• Staff willingness to work: Many child nutrition directors and staff take breaks during the summer months. But operating daily home delivery every week of summer break requires a subset of staff to continue working. In Transylvania County, about 40% of school nutrition staff remain employed through summer meals, which they opt into. Broda requires staff to take a two-week break, but otherwise, they do not take extended leave. This provides consistent employment for those that want to work, but also requires staff to commit to limiting their time off.

Growth in Transylvania County’s home delivery program has significantly expanded access to summer meals. In the summer of 2025, the district served , a 35% increase from the previous summer.

For tips on home delivery implementation, from the Carolina Hunger Initiative.

What would it take for more districts to do the same?

Before a sponsor can deliver summer meals, they first have to be eligible for and opt into SUN Meals To-Go. From there, the sponsor can choose any number of to serve meals — including drive-thru, pick-up, and home delivery. Some districts, like Transylvania County Schools, operate multiple SUN Meals To-Go models at once, while others stick to a single approach.

The CHI works to support more summer meals sponsors in offering SUN Meals To-Go. As non-congregate models become more common across the state, Bertschy said the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), which oversees the federal summer meals program, has increasingly provided resources and worked to reduce the administrative burden of operating the program. Given the additional logistics that come with operating SUN Meals To-Go, sponsors have to operate congregate meals for at least one summer before DPI will approve them to serve non-congregate meals.

As of the summer of 2026, 60 of the state’s 100 counties are served by a SUN Meals To-Go program, with most using drive-thru or pick-up models.

At the end of the day, Bertschy said, the decision to offer SUN Meals To-Go often comes down to a sponsor being willing to take a leap of faith. Demand is less predictable than at congregate meal sites, which often serve children enrolled in camps or other programming. Sponsors often have to buy food for non-congregate sites before they know how many families will actually show up, and having enough staff available to work the summer months can also be challenging.

With home delivery, there are also vehicle and fuel costs in addition to the logistics of planning routes, storing food, and keeping staff safe.

“It’s just really stepping into the unknown of: ‘How big is this program going to get?’” said Bertschy.

To encourage shared learnings between non-congregate sponsors, CHI is working with DPI to foster a community of practice for non-congregate sponsors by offering office hours, connecting nutrition directors, and coordinating site visits. 

Another critical element of summer meal program success is funding. The majority of funding for summer meals comes from federal per-meal reimbursements, which are in rural areas. Those funds have to cover every cost to operate the program — including staff, equipment, food, and supplies — and are often stretched thin.

To supplement federal funding, CHI has provided Transylvania County Schools with nearly $60,000 in grants over the last three years, enabling the home delivery program to expand.

“Janette works really hard to make this the example of what the program could be at its best — and if people would support the programs properly with funding and what they need, every district could be like this,” said Andrew Harrell, program and communications manager at the CHI. “It’s not because people don’t want to serve fresh, local foods — it’s because they’re underfunded.”

Broda’s advice to other sponsors considering home delivery is to start small and stay open-minded and flexible. That might look like starting with one route and working out the kinks for a summer before expanding further.

“Home delivery meets our children’s needs the best because we can meet them where they are and give them a hot meal, providing the best quality nutrition we have. And so if you have responsible staff, energy, and motivation to do that, then I would highly suggest it,” she said.

For Yari Rahn, a school nutrition manager who drives one of the home delivery routes, the program does more than provide nutritious food — it also allows her to touch base with students every day, rain or shine, greeting them with a familiar face and checking in on how they’re doing.

During one recent stop on her route, a child was so excited that he was waiting down the block from his house for the van to arrive. Once he saw the van pull on to his street, he ran alongside it until it reached his house.

“It’s hot, but when those kids come out, it’s well worth it,” she said.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a .

Although a new report indicates an ongoing nationwide drop in the number of children who participated in free summer meals last year, data shows Indiana bucked the trend with more Hoosier kids receiving lunches in 2023 than in 2022.

The released Tuesday by the Food Research & Action Center revealed (FRAC) that 170,926 fewer children benefited from meals served through the Summer Nutrition Programs in 2023 compared to the previous year. That means only 15.3 children received summer lunch for every 100 who received a free or reduced-price school lunch during the previous school year.

But in Indiana, more than 72,000 children participated in free summer lunches on an average day in July 2023 — a nearly 33% increase from 2022. By comparison, 17.3 Hoosier kids ate summer lunch for every 100 who participated in the free and reduced program during the academic year.

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Participation rates for breakfast still show room for improvement, however. According to FRAC’s analysis, 15,157 Hoosier children received breakfast on an average day in July 2023. That’s an increase of about 11.4% compared to July 2022, but still far less than during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, for example, 73,666 Hoosier kids received free breakfast during the summer.

The overall 2023 participation boost — though there were previous summer meal increases in 2020 and 2021.

Child nutrition waivers issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture make free meals available at summer meal sites, often located at schools and community centers.

Access was expanded during the pandemic, and until 2023, federal waivers allowed meal sites to operate in all communities and offer meals that families could pick up and take home off-site consumption. Most sites have since reverted to pre-pandemic operations, meaning fewer kids can access free meals.

FRAC, a national nonprofit that aims to reduce poverty-related hunger, releases its summer nutrition report annually. Data is delayed a year however; the newest report highlights summer lunches in 2023, and 2024 numbers won’t be available for another year.

“The summer should be about play, adventure, and friends, not rumbling stomachs. Summer meals help keep hunger at bay, so that children can enjoy their break and return to school in the fall healthy and ready to learn,” said Crystal FitzSimons, interim president at FRAC, in a statement.

“Maximizing the opportunities available this summer and beyond will be critical to ensuring that children have the nutrition, and the education and enrichment programming, they need to learn and thrive,” FitzSimons continued. “Now is the time to recommit to ending summer hunger, and more must be done.”

Numbers improve, but still low overall

Across the country, most other states saw a decrease in the average daily participation in summer lunch in July 2023 compared to July 2022, according to FRAC.

Nationwide participation for lunch in July 2023 was slightly higher than pre-pandemic levels: 30,533 additional children participated in July 2023 when compared to July 2019, the last summer before the pandemic.

Participation for breakfast in July 2023 was 15.9% lower than July 2022, with 287,096 fewer children participating in 2023, according to the FRAC report.

Even so, Indiana ranked bottom in the country for the ratio of kids who ate both free lunches and breakfasts. Out of every 100 students who ate a summer lunch, only 25 were also served a free breakfast, according to the FRAC data.

Nutrition advocates emphasized that many Indiana families continue to struggle with hunger and food insecurity.

FRAC, specifically, is calling on federal lawmakers to make summer meals “more accessible,” including by making more communities eligible to provide summer meals, allowing all sites to serve three meals (instead of two), streamlining operations so summer sites can operate after school and on weekends during the school year, and providing more funding for summer programs, “so that more children have access to the meals and the educational and enrichment activities they need during the summer to return to school well-nourished and ready to learn.”

Summer meal options

The two federal summer nutrition programs — the Summer Food Service Program and National School Lunch Program — provide funding to serve meals and snacks to children at sites during summer vacation or the extended breaks of year-round schools. The programs also can be used to feed children during unanticipated school closures.

The SFSP is a federally-funded, state-administered program that reimburses approved program operators who serve free, healthy meals and snacks to children under age 18 in low-income areas when school is not in session.

Sponsorship is open to public and private nonprofit groups, including local governments, summer camps, religious organizations and recreation centers. Organizations may also consider partnering with an existing sponsor, such as a school corporation, to serve students in areas where kids lack good nutrition during the summer months.

Separately, the NSLP is available for schools that operate summer school. Only the students enrolled in summer school can receive a meal, however.

The latest FRAC report indicates the number of SFSP sponsors and sites was practically the same from July 2022 to July 2023. The data shows there were 164 sponsors and 810 sites statewide that provided summer meals in July 2023.

To complement summer meals, the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program,

Thirty-seven states, including Indiana, are participating, to the USDA. Eligible families received $120 in federally funded grocery benefits on an EBT card for each school-age child who is eligible for free or reduced-price school meals.

Some 669,000 school-aged kids in Indiana were eligible, according to FRAC. It’s not yet clear how many actually participated.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

Elementary school children enjoyed breakfast foods, snacks and milk at Waverly East School in Lansing Wednesday morning as leaders announced a program that will bring free breakfast and lunch to kids around the state — even when school is out for the summer.

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing), chair of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, led an initiative to pour federal funds into expanding food access during the summer for children. While some children have had access to free food during the school year, this program will make summer meals permanent.

“We have this great opportunity for breakfast and lunch and in many cases, for snacks in school,” Stabenow said. “But then we get to the summer, and what we have seen is far less funding available, fewer flexibilities and support for summer meals.”

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According to Food Bank Council of Michigan Executive Director Phil Knight, Michigan is the first state to implement the program, which is .

Other states are also expected to implement their share of federal funds, but several Republican governors rejected the aid.

“Feeding children should not be a partisan issue,” State Superintendent Michael Rice said.

Stabenow predicted the program will feed 900,000 children in Michigan this summer. The new, permanent funding breaks up into three different categories, so families in different situations have flexibility to get food.

“We’ve had meals on site for a long time, although you basically have to fight for money every year,” Stabenow said. “Every year we have to fight to get summer meals, so now this is permanent.”

The first is a “traditional summer meals” program, which serves children meals at a specific location and does not require an application. Another program offers “meals-to-go,” which are available in more rural areas. Families can pick up multiple meals at a time or get food delivered.

“We have set up all these flexibilities so that there’s more opportunities to pick up food,” Stabenow said.

The final option is for kids who attend a school that participates in the National School Lunch or Breakfast Program and receives free or reduced-price lunch or if the child is on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Medicaid.

“We’re helping people where they are, not where we wish they were. And we understand that this is not just an expense; it’s also an investment,” Knight said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on and .