Free Meal Program Extended to Dec. 18 for Students at 203 Hawaiʻi Schools

Photo Courtesy: USDAʻs Summer Food Service Program

The Hawai‘i Department of Education will provide free meals for students at 203 schools through Dec. 18 with funding from the US Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program.  

“Parents left unemployed or underemployed due to COVID-19 may be faced with significant shortfalls to the family budget,” Hawai‘i’s First Lady Dawn Ige said. “Getting free breakfast and lunch for their children at school can make a big difference. We intend to make full use of these federal funds to provide healthy meal options for local families through the Grab-and-Go meal program.”

The Hawai‘i Department of Education’s Grab-and-Go meal program offers any student, ages 18 or younger, nutritious meals for breakfast and lunch. Parents or guardians simply pick up meals curbside to take home.

Through the spring and summer, the state prepared about 1.3 million meals for students, and it expects to see the same level of participation through the fall as most students are learning from home this semester. Free breakfast and lunch meals can be picked up during lunchtime from any of the 203 participating Hawai‘i Department of Education schools. Please contact your school for specific times. A list of those schools and verification documents needed can be found online at www.ainapono.org/grabandgo.