By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Last week, The Seattle Human Services Department launched its annual Summer Food Service Program, known as the Summer Meals Program, at 62 sites across the city. The program provides free healthy breakfasts, lunches, and snacks during the summer months to kids between the ages of 1 to 18. Each participant can receive up to two meals or one meal and one snack per day that must be eaten onsite.
For many years, the Summer Meals Program has consistently provided free, healthy meals to the community thanks to strong partnerships with Seattle Public Schools, who provides the meals, Seattle Parks and Recreation Department, and United Way of King County.
“This program supports children and youth who are enrolled in summer programs across Seattle and others who may not receive adequate nutrition at home,” says Dr. Shukri Olow, Director of the Human Services Department’s Youth and Family Empowerment Division. “Our program helps fill the gap when school is not in session. This year, we expect to provide more than 100,000 meals and almost as many snacks.”
Running typically Monday through Friday, with some sites occasionally being open on weekend days, the participating sites including outdoor parks, community centers, and faith-based organizations, have seen this program positively impact the Seattle community.
For Temesgen Melashu, Human Service Department’s Out of School Time Meal’s Coordinator for the Summer Food Service Program, the program is a full-circle moment as she once was a participant of the program herself.
“It is a pretty large program, and we can serve anywhere from 80 to 120,000 meals within two and a half months,” says Melashu. “Every year our goals of course increase by the number of meals we serve, to increase our reach overall. I myself was a youth who participated in this program at a young age, and I personally see the impact it can have and the importance of having these meals available. These meals really do help youth receive meals that they may not have the opportunity to receive during the school year.”
“Coming out of COVID, we understood the impact that it had on a lot of the community-based organizations, so we are in the phase of reintroducing this program to a lot of our sites and just the community at large this year, and only working with 62 sites is a little bit of a downsize,” she added.
Despite the cut in the number of participating sites, the goal, according to Melashu, remains the same: to serve as many meals and as many youth as possible. Serving thousands of meals each summer, the program ensures that everyone interested in receiving free meals has the chance to do so.
Alta Green, Lead Teacher at Wee Are the World Summer Camp, is part of one of the largest roaming camp groups to participate in the Summer Meals Program, which values the program and the opportunity that it provides her team with in helping those in need by providing access to free, healthy meals.
“Every day we try to make our way to a launch site and see new faces,” says Green. “They [the program] make my kids feel safe, and the program makes me feel safe. It is really incredible just as a whole what Seattle provides for us, and the Seattle lunch program is something that we are absolutely tethered to.”
Melashu is optimistic that more sites will apply for this program as a way to help out families in need, as the cost of living and food continue to rise.
“With finances being really tough on a lot of families, this program is such a nice way to really ease that burden on many families,” says Melashu. “On a fun note, I do enjoy seeing youth get an opportunity to go outside, hang out with not only their friends but with other youth, and be able to just enjoy a meal and really be well rounded like kids.”
The program is expected to operate through August 23, 2024. All Seattle residents, regardless of immigration status, are eligible for City of Seattle programs and services unless noted otherwise.
For information about specific sites, see our 2024 Summer Food Service Program site map or email [email protected].