During the school year, over 900,000 students enrolled in the Massachusetts public school system can rely on getting breakfast and lunch every week day. According to a 2025 study from The Greater Boston Food Bank and Mass General Brigham, over a million families in the commonwealth regularly struggle to put food on the table -- a figure that’s more than doubled since 2019.
“In Massachusetts, 40% of households are facing food insecurity, while, as you know, the cost of living just continues to rise, and we have large federal cuts in the SNAP area,” Karyn Novakowski told WAMC.
Novakowski is the Child Nutrition outreach manager for Project Bread. The Boston-based organization’s work to end hunger includes connecting local school districts with federal programs to make sure that even during the summer break, young people remain fed. Summer Eats allows for all kids 18 and under – with no ID required – to have access to hot meals.
“We do help them identify locations that people frequent, that they have good access to, that there is parking or public transportation, so that people can get there safely and frequently," said Novakowski. "We also offer free promotional materials, signage, flyers, T-shirts, and all kinds of swag that we can give out to the community, so that, again, more people learn about the Summer Eats program.”
Pittsfield is the hub of Berkshire County and with almost 4,700 students it is the largest school district in the sparsely populated region. School system Director of Food Services Jeremy Wells says Summer Eats keeps his department humming even while classes aren’t in session.
“Last year we did about 37,000 meals during the summertime, between the time school let out to the time we reopened schools," he told WAMC. "This year we're expecting right around the same, if not more.”
Wells estimates around 1,000 young people a day visit free meal sites in Pittsfield.
“It's a great chance for kids to get out get out of the house," he said. "This year and last year, we were fortunate enough to provide – especially with this year, we've expanded it a little bit more – to parent guardians who are attending a site with their child are allowed to grab a free meal as well. So, we're kind of opening it up to the community here.”
Wells' team works from the central production kitchen at Pittsfield High School to get food out to eight meal sites around the city.
Novakowski was impressed with what she found on her field visit.
“Pittsfield had such a wide array of food options available," she said. "They had chicken tenders and sandwiches, and the sides had a diversity of summer fruits like cantaloupe and blueberries alongside potato salad and fresh carrots, and the kids were truly eating it up.”
In contrast to Pittsfield, the town of Lee – located around 11 miles to the south – has less than 700 students and just one pickup site for meals. Novakowski says Project Bread’s efforts are adapted to the needs of each community the org helps serve.
“What we see in rural communities is that people have trouble accessing sites frequently," she said. "So, one of the things that was put in place in Lee this year is a rural pickup site that is offered on Fridays at 4 o'clock at their Lee Elementary School, where you can go and pick up meals for the weekend for your family, in addition to the other breakfast and lunch meals that they're also serving. So that's one of the waivers that rural communities can get, where they can provide additional meals to community members.”
Bonnie Fahey, the food service director for Lee Public Schools, says the offering has been taken up enthusiastically by the community.
“The folks that we have come here, especially for the grab and go bags on Fridays, are extremely grateful," she told WAMC. "And every week they come, they say, ‘I don't know what we would do without this.’ So, they really appreciate everything that we're doing.”
She says Summer Eats attracts around 20 kids a day for breakfast and upwards of 70 for lunch. The program is tied to the Lee Youth Association Summer Day Camp, and will end for the town once the camp moves from the elementary school to the nearby private St. Mary's School in August.
“I'll see people in town, and they'll be like, ‘Oh, my gosh, you know, I can't believe I'm back to-’ you know, now they have to provide the food for their children for lunch and breakfast, where before they could drop them off, they didn't have to worry about it, and we were helping them out by doing it," said Fahey. "So, I think the kids miss it too.”
Fahey says she wants to see the Summer Eats program continue to grow in Lee, but that accessibility issues like transportation are holding it back. Another barrier to maximizing the impact of the summer meals is less tangible -- the persistent stigma around taking advantage of free food. Fahey says there’s no need for anyone to pass up on the opportunity.
“They should just do what's best for their family, and we're here to help," she told WAMC. "So, the more people we can help, the better we feel, and it's more success of our program.”
