Summer Meals at The Market
Helping kids stay nourished while school is out
When school lets out for the summer, many families face a new challenge: how to fill the gap left by school breakfasts and lunches. For parents already stretching their grocery budgets, adding several more meals a day can quickly become overwhelming. That’s where the Southeast Ohio Foodbank’s Summer Meals program steps in—helping ensure kids continue to have reliable, nutritious food even when school cafeterias are closed.
Last summer, the SE Ohio Foodbank’s kitchen team prepared hundreds of thousands of meals that were distributed through multiple community sites across the region, making it easier for families to access food close to home. One of those locations was The HAPCAP for Health Market in Logan, where families picked up 7,924 meals throughout the summer.
Each box included enough kid-friendly foods to help cover seven days of meals. Children especially loved items like fresh fruit and chicken nuggets, and families appreciated being able to take the food home and prepare it on their own schedules.
This approach helped remove barriers that exist in congregate summer meal programs. Congregate sites require children to eat meals on-site at a specific time, which can make participation difficult for families without reliable transportation or flexible schedules. By allowing families to pick up food boxes to take home, the program reached many more children who might otherwise go without.
The impact was clear. The Southeast Ohio Foodbank’s kitchen prepared 568% more summer meals than the previous year, dramatically expanding the number of children served.
Behind the scenes, it truly took all hands on deck. Team members from the warehouse, administration, and maintenance departments worked alongside the kitchen staff to pack thousands of meals for local kids each day.
Operating programs like Summer Meals is only possible because of the generosity of neighbors who care about children in Southeast Ohio. Your support helps ensure that when school is out, kids in our communities can still count on the food they need to grow, play, and thrive.
