Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24) is encouraging Central Coast families to take advantage of the expanded range of federal nutrition programs available to children across California this summer, including a new direct benefit he helped create through legislation passed in 2022.
The new series of programs introduced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture offer families more choices and convenient ways to receive summer nutrition assistance for their children and teens, with the new SUN Bucksas well as SUN meals, and the previously started SUN takeaway meals Program.
“Even on the beautiful Central Coast, summer vacation is not always a welcome time for some of our children and families. The end of the school year can leave families struggling financially in limbo, with many school feeding programs shutting down until the fall. That’s why summer feeding programs like SUN are so important in helping thousands of food-insecure families in our region put food on the table,” said MP Carbajal“I was proud to work with my colleagues last semester to develop and fund the SUN Bucks program, and I am excited to see it launch this summer to support children in California and the Central Coast who lack access to nutritious meals between school years.”
“On an average school day, nearly 30 million children participate in USDA’s school breakfast and lunch programs. But when school is out, children don’t have access to these vital meals.” said Agriculture Minister Tom Vilsack“USDA’s SUN programs provide families with more opportunities to conveniently access the vital nutrients children need to thrive, learn and grow during the summer and beyond.”
SUN Bucks provides $120 for food to every eligible school-age child this summer, a benefit that will be adjusted for inflation in future years.
For more information on how California families can enroll in SUN Bucks, click here.
Representative Carbajal and his colleagues in Congress passed a law in December 2022 that would create the SunBucks Program that starts for the first time this summer.
In addition to the new food benefits, SUN programs also provide nutritious meals and snacks to children under 18 in high-poverty communities and populations across the United States during the summer months:
- SUN meals are served in schools, parks, community centers, and other neighborhood locations. This long-standing, in-person summer meal program has been operating in communities since 1968. Meals are often offered in conjunction with recreational activities to support children’s healthy growth and development.
- SUN takeaway mealslaunched in 2023, offers pickup and delivery options in some rural areas when and where SUN meals are not available.
SUN Meals and Meals To-Go are available at locations along the Central Coast. A full map of locations can be found here.
For more information about these summer programs, visit www.fns.usda.gov/summer.
Earlier this year, Rep. Carbajal voted to fully fund this and other nutrition programs through 2024.
These nutrition programs are part of the goals set by Rep. Carbajal and the Biden-Harris administration at the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health In September 2022, the first hunger conference in half a century will take place at the White House.
