Lancaster, PA – Today, Pennsylvania Secretary of Education (PDE) Dr. Carrie Rowe distributed summer meals to children at Schaeffer Elementary School in the Manheim Township School District. Pennsylvania’s Summer Meals Program provides free breakfast, lunch, and snacks to children 18 and under when school is out. Meals are served at parks, schools, libraries, and community centers across the Commonwealth in both congregate and rural non-congregate settings. Last summer, more than 5.6 million meals were served at 2,110 summer meal sites as part of the program.
“Hunger doesn’t take a vacation when school is out of session, and the Summer Meals Program helps children and their families access nutritious meals at no cost during the summer months,” said Secretary of Education Dr. Carrie Rowe. “Programs like this help give families peace of mind and ensure kids don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from.”
The Manheim Township School District has sponsored two Summer Meals sites since June 2016. In 2025, the program served 5,318 meals to local families. Of those, 1,085 were breakfast meals and 4,233 were lunch meals. The district works to incorporate fresh local food into its offerings, often purchasing items from nearby growers and farmers’ markets.
"Through our Summer Meals Program, we are able to bridge the nutrition gap and ensure that children in our community will have access to healthy, nutritious meals during the summer months. Sharing a meal around the table is more than nourishment - it is a chance to bring people together, build relationships, create conversations that lead to connections to foster a stronger sense of community," said Manheim Township School District Director of Food Services, Kelly Price MS, RD LDN. "Beyond providing nutritious meals, the program creates summer jobs for our food service staff. We truly enjoy seeing families gather, connect, and build relationships each day. We love that these meals will support the children's health and well-being which allows them to thrive when they return to school in the fall."
The Shapiro Administration has made it a top priority to ensure Pennsylvania students start the day with a full stomach, ready to learn — both over the summer and during the school year. The Governor’s 2026-27 budget proposal includes funding for universal free school breakfast for a fourth consecutive year, helping to ensure Pennsylvania’s 1.7 million students continue to receive free breakfast at school, regardless of income. As a result of universal free breakfast, more students are able to start the day with a nutritious, filling breakfast in the morning to kickstart their day and get their minds ready to learn. During the 2024-25 school year, Pennsylvania schools served nearly 93 million breakfasts to students — a 13.8 percent increase over two years.
Under the Governor's leadership, Pennsylvania has increased funding for public education by almost $3 billion in just three years. This includes nearly $2 billion more for Basic Education Funding and dollars driven out to the schools that need them most through the Ready to Learn Block Grant, $190 million more for Special Education, and $52 million more for higher education.
The Governor’s 2026–27 budget proposal builds on these successes by increasing opportunity for students, supporting safe learning environments, and continuing to reform the way school districts pay cyber charter schools. Funding supports after-school programs, full-day pre-K and kindergarten, evidence-based reading instruction, school libraries, social and health services, and professional development for educators.
The Summer Meals Program is operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered in Pennsylvania by the Department of Education. Non-profit organizations sponsor the program and receive reimbursement for meals served to eligible children at approved meal sites.
Visit the Summer Meals Site Finder for a list of summer meal locations across the Commonwealth.