Sun Bucks aims to combat ‘summer hunger’ kids can face when school’s out
In participating states, low-income families will receive $40 each month for each eligible school-aged child, up to $120, to buy groceries, beginning in the summer of 2024. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.
Thousands of kids in low-income families lose access to free meals from their schools when students are released for summer break, even if those families still struggle to afford food during the summer months.
That’s why hunger relief advocates are excited about a new federal benefit that will provide extra funds to help eligible families afford their groceries, aiming to bridge the so-called “summer hunger gap.”
Maryland officials predict that the new grocery benefit will bring in $60 million in federal funding to help about 543,000 kids across the state.
“Summer hunger is a problem … and we need to do something,” LaMonika Jones, interim president for the Maryland Hunger Solution, said Monday. “We want to do everything we can to maximize the reach of meals while kids are out over the summer.”
“Maryland Sun Bucks” is the kid-friendly name for the state’s Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program, a new federal benefit that provides low-income families an additional $120 over three months to spend on groceries and help stave off food insecurity when children are on summer break from school.
“Hunger spikes during the summer because children lose access to the school breakfasts and lunches they rely on in the school year,” according to a statement from the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit aiming to reduce poverty-related hunger.
“To bridge the summer hunger gap, Congress in December 2022 established a new, permanent, nationwide program … to provide families $120 in federally funded grocery benefits,” the center said in a statement on the federal program, which is also known as Sun Bucks.
Maryland is one of 37 states and the District of Columbia that opted into the new program for summer 2024, along with five territories and the Cherokee and Chickasaw tribes.
Gov. Wes Moore (D) promoted the new grocery benefit in a press release Monday.
“Tackling childhood poverty requires consistent, targeted action so all Marylanders can stay healthy as they play, grow, and learn. The launch of Maryland SUN Bucks marks one such action – and it won’t be the last,” Moore said in a written statement.
According to the press release, about 90% of families that are eligible for Sun Bucks will receive them automatically, though some will need to apply online or submit a paper application to receive the benefit.
Families that qualify will receive $40 per child for the months of June, July and August, or $120 per child for the summer. For families on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the benefit will automatically go on their existing electronic benefits transfer card.
“Something is better than nothing,” Jones with Maryland Hunger Solution said. “That $120 per child … is going to support any sort of additional funding that is going to be needed for a family to purchase groceries.”
The post Sun Bucks aims to combat ‘summer hunger’ kids can face when school’s out appeared first on Maryland Matters.
