Edited release/Hunter
05/27/24
The Iowa Department of Education last week implemented a grant program to 38 school districts and other qualified organizations to help more Iowa children and teens access nutritious meals and snacks during the summer months.
According to a release from the Department, the $900,000 program will support 61 new summer meal sites in areas not previously served, including Hills Elementary in the Iowa City Community School District.
The 61 new site locations are in addition to returning meal site locations. Last summer, more than 500 meal sites operated across the state in schools, churches, community centers, parks, libraries and camps.
Governor Kim Reynolds announced the program last month, over three months after turning down $29 million in federal funding for low-income families to spend on food for their school-aged children in the summer.
Summer EBT started during the COVID-19 pandemic and became permanent this year. It provides low-income children with $40 per month in benefits during the three months of the summer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture covers the cost of the benefits, but states must pay for half of administrative costs. Reynolds called the program unsustainable and said, “An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic.”
Iowa was among 17 states, nearly all with Republican governors, who rejected the funding.