Key Takeaways:
About 10.1 million children in the 13 states that opted out of Summer EBT will miss the $120-per-child grocery benefit this summer, leaving an estimated $1.2 billion unclaimed, according to FRAC.
No Kid Hungry estimates children could miss 95 million summer meals, and 1 in 3 parents say they worry about running out of food when school is out.
Food banks are bracing for a summer surge as the 2025 budget law's $187 billion SNAP cut, the largest since 1964, pulls benefits from families with children.
School is out, and for millions of children the free meals that came with it are gone until fall. About 10.1 million kids in the 13 states that declined to run Summer EBT this year will not receive the program's $120-per-child grocery benefit, the Food Research and Action Center estimates, leaving roughly $1.2 billion in federal food aid on the table.
Summer EBT, also called SUN Bucks, is the permanent federal program that loads $120 onto a card for each eligible child to replace school meals over the break. Thirty-seven states, Washington DC, five tribal nations, and the territories are running it for about 21 million children. The 13 that opted out, including Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Wyoming, leave their lowest-income families to find food elsewhere.
No Kid Hungry estimates children could miss 95 million meals this summer, and its survey found 1 in 3 parents worried about running out of food when school is closed, up sharply from two years ago. Summer has always been the hungriest season for kids who rely on school meals, with transportation and limited site hours keeping many families away from summer meal sites.
Food banks are absorbing the difference. Mary's Food Bank in Arizona expects to serve about 300,000 more meals than last year, and others report monthly demand up 10 to 12 percent and sites at capacity. The pressure is compounding because the 2025 budget law cut an estimated $187 billion from SNAP over a decade, the largest reduction since the program began in 1964, and about 4 in 10 SNAP recipients are children.
The summer gap is the clearest picture of a safety net that turns on and off, and it is shrinking right as need rises. It is the same squeeze WYDE has tracked in the Senate farm bill's SNAP cost shift to states and in its work with Feed the Children to move charitable grants on-chain. The pattern here is hard to ignore.
People Also Ask
What is Summer EBT or SUN Bucks?
It is a permanent federal program that gives families $120 in grocery benefits per eligible child during summer break to replace the school meals children lose when school is out.
Which states are not offering Summer EBT in 2026?
Thirteen states opted out: Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
Why do food banks get busier in the summer?
When school ends, children lose free breakfasts and lunches, so families lean on food banks, a strain made worse this year by SNAP cuts and higher grocery costs.
How are SNAP cuts affecting children?
The 2025 budget law cut about $187 billion from SNAP over a decade, and roughly 4 in 10 SNAP participants are children, so reduced benefits fall heavily on families with kids.
Sources: Food Research & Action Center, No Kid Hungry