D.C. Hunger Solutions Applauds Decision to Implement New Program to Provide Resources to Combat Summer Child Hunger

Media Contact:   
Brittani Riddle   
202-640-1089, ext. 3039   
briddle@frac.org  

Statement attributable to LaMonika Jones, Director of D.C. Hunger Solutions  

WASHINGTON, January 19, 2024 — D.C. Hunger Solutions commends the decision from the Executive Office of the Mayor, the Department of Human Services, and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education to implement Summer EBT, which offers an opportunity to reduce summer hunger by providing families whose children lose access to free or reduced-price school meals during the summer months with an Electronic Benefit Transfer card to purchase food throughout the summer months. Across the District, 80,000 children will be eligible. This would result in about $9,600,000 in benefits being distributed to families experiencing food insecurity.  

Summer can be one of the hungriest times of the year for children. Summer meals, such as the D.C. Youth Meals Program, combined with Summer EBT is an effective recipe to meet children’s nutritional needs during the summer. By maximizing participation in all of the available federal nutrition programs, we can ensure that no child continues to experience hunger.  

We are thrilled that our nation’s capital recognizes that hunger doesn’t take a summer vacation and will join the growing number of states committed to ensuring our children have a hunger-free summer. 

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About D.C. Hunger Solutions    
D.C. Hunger Solutions, founded in 2002 as an initiative of the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), works to create a hunger-free community and improve the nutrition, health, economic security, and well-being of low-income people in the District of Columbia. To learn more about D.C. Hunger Solutions, visit www.dchunger.org.