NYSED’s Free Outreach Materials Available Now Lack of awareness is the biggest barrier to kids accessing summer meals. Help families learn about your program using free outreach resources from the New York State Education Department (NYSED). Sponsors can now order free tents, banners, yard signs, and more through NYSED's sponsor order form, available on NYSED's Child Nutrition webpage. Orders started shipping at the end of May, so order as soon as possible to secure your materials before summer operations begin! Please note that NYSED also created an order form for advocates featuring items such as flyers and postcards. Feel welcome to direct your sites and other partners to the advocate form so they can help spread the word about summer meals! |
|
NYSED’s Rural Non-Congregate Resources The number of rural non-congregate (RNC) meals has grown exponentially every summer since this flexibility became permanent in 2023. New York State sponsors served approximately 98,000 RNC meals in 2023, 370,000 in 2024, and a staggering 850,000 in 2025! Check out NYSED’s resources below to set yourself up for a successful summer serving RNC meals. ICYMI: Watch the webinar recording, Fueling Rural Futures: A Panel Discussion featuring Rural Non-Congregate Summer Meals Champions, to learn more about what’s happening around the state with rural non-congregate summer meal providers. This 35-minute conversation highlights lessons learned and best practices. View the recording here. |
|
NEW RESOURCE: Help Families Access Food This Summer As the school year ends, more New York kids than ever will lose access to free school meals. Combined with rising costs, summertime can place added pressure on families’ budgets and increase the risk of food insecurity. Programs like summer meals, Summer EBT, SNAP, WIC, and other emergency food programs can be a lifeline for families. Now is a crucial time to effectively communicate with families about all available food resources: Download our toolkit for ready-to-use language about programs that can help families struggling to afford groceries. Add this text to your newsletters, websites, emails, and other communication channels. |
|
ICYMI: Summer EBT Webinar with NYSOTDA The NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (NYSOTDA) shared 2026 updates for Summer EBT. This hour-long presentation features key messages for families, outreach opportunities, and other important program updates for this coming summer. View the recording here. |
|
