The New York City Department of Education (DOE) will be providing free breakfast and lunch meals to students up to the age of 18 beginning on June 28. The Summer Meals Program will run across all five boroughs of the city until Sept. 2.
The program will apply to designated public schools, community pool centers, parks and food trucks. Of the 295 locations set to offer this program across the city, 85 of them will be located across Queens. There will not be registration, identification or documentation required for the kids to receive their free meals.
These Summer Meals Programs will run from Mondays to Fridays, with breakfast available from 8 to 9:15 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. The program will not be running on July 4.
According to the DOE, the food that will be offered will reflect their commitment to providing the students with the highest standard of nutrition. A variety of fresh fruit, whole grains, vegetables and salads will be included in the meals. In addition to meeting or exceeding the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards, the foods will not have any food additives, such as artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.
Nonprofit and not-for-profit community-based organizations (CBOs) will also be eligible to pick up breakfast and/or lunch for community members throughout the duration of the program. In addition to filling out an application to be eligible to do this, CBOs are required to have their employees attend a free four-hour food protection course.
Dates and/or times of service for the program may vary at locations other than public schools. For example, the Elmhurst Public Library won’t be offering the program until June 29 and will end it on Aug. 31. Additionally, breakfast won’t be offered there and lunch will run from 1 to 2 p.m.
An up-to-date list of all the locations offering the Summer Meals Program and its days and hours can be found on the NYC DOE’s website.
Locations can also be found by calling 311 or texting NYC Food to 304-304. All sites, dates and times are subject to change.
