Free Meals For Kids This Summer 

The anti-hunger nonprofit agency Project Bread has teamed with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to again offer the Summer Eats program, providing free meals for all children ages 18 and under throughout the state. The program  includes  several sites in Amherst. The federally funded program provides nutritious meals that are distributed along with breakfast, dinner, and snack food. No identification is necessary, but children must pick up the food themselves and must consume the meals on site.

According to Project Bread, 22% of households with children in Massachusetts were food insecure in March of 2023, a number as high as during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Summer Eats program aims to fill the gap when schools are not in session and school lunches are not available. Children from families eligible for the SNAP program are also able to participate in the Summer Eats program. Meals at the Amherst sites are provided by UMass Dining or the Amherst-Pelham School Lunch program.

The Summer Eats Program is available in Amherst at the following  sites:

Butternut Farms: 11 Longmeadow Drive

Renew Amherst Apartments: 266 East Hadley Road

Groff Park: 83 Mill Lane

Rolling Green Apartments: 1 Rolling Green Drive

Colonial Village: 81 Belchertown Road

Village Park: 497 East Pleasant Street

Olympia Oaks: 85 Olympia Drive

Mill River Recreation Area: 95 Montague Road

North Square at the Mill District: 75 Cowls Road

For times and providing local agencies see https://www.projectbread.org/summer-eats-program?search=Amherst%2C+Massachusetts+01002%2C+United+States or call 1-800-645-8333 or text FOOD to 304-304.