Field Trips: CDE Field Trips - 8/2/24: USDA official and CDE visit Summer Nutrition Meal site

USDA's Alberto Gonzalez visits the Lunch Lab, operated by the Food Bank for Larimer County, outside Loveland Public Library.

USDA Food and Nutrition Service Chief Policy Advisor Alberto Gonzalez and CDE officials visited a Summer Nutrition Meals (SUN) Program site in Loveland operated by the Food Bank for Larimer County on Tuesday, July 30. 

CDE has worked with 82 sponsors at 642 sites around the state to provide free and nutritious summer meals to children under age 18. The USDA and CDE provided multiple summer meal programs:  

• SUN Meals: Group summer meal service 
• SUN Meals To-Go: To-go or home-delivered meals in certain rural areas 
• SUN Bucks: Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer Program, or Summer EBT; summer grocery benefits ($120 per eligible school-aged child).

In 2023, the meals program expanded its “SUN Meals to Go” sites to more rural locations with 27 sponsors providing meals at 66 sites - more than double the sites from the year prior. This summer marked the SUN Bucks program's launch, reaching an estimated 550,000 eligible Colorado children. 

CDE has more information about the Summer Food Service Program here.