During the summer months, when school is out, families lose access to the breakfasts and lunches many children receive during the school year.
In southwest Colorado, several programs are meant to help bridge the gap between school-year meals and summer food needs. Colorado’s Summer EBT program, also known as SUN Bucks, provides grocery benefits for eligible children. Summer meal sites provide meals directly to children and teens. And in some communities, local organizations distribute food boxes or provide other support.
But this summer, access to these resources varied depending on where families lived, what programs were available locally, and whether families could overcome barriers like transportation.
According to the Colorado Department of Education, Montezuma County had several listed summer meal sites, including the Piñon Project in Cortez, Mancos Elementary School, the Ute Mountain Ute Recreation Center in Towaoc and Battle Rock Charter School near Cortez. But not all of those sites were open to the general public. The Piñon Project and Mancos Elementary School were listed as closed, enrolled sites. Ute Mountain Ute Recreation Center and Battle Rock Charter School were listed as open sites, though Battle Rock’s listed service dates ended June 12.
CDE said there were no summer meal sites operating in Dolores County this summer. In Dove Creek, a local youth program worked to help fill that gap.
Dove Creek ROCK distributed weekly food boxes containing five breakfasts and five lunches per child. The program served roughly 75 to 100 children each week, according to Carol Marie Howell, who runs the organization.
But Howell said launching the effort was difficult. She said the program took months to organize and ran into problems with paperwork, delayed deliveries, freight costs, storage and food quality.
Some shipments arrived later than expected. Others had to be sorted or rearranged before they could go out to families. Howell said she received help from the Good Food Collective in order to coordinate funding with the Colorado Trust to provide funding so the meals could be supplemented.
Food quality was a major concern for her. She said if families have a poor experience with a food program, they may be less likely to use it again. Portions were also an issue, especially when the same meals are meant to serve both young children and older teens.
Summer food access in rural areas can also be shaped by distance. Howell said some families may drive several miles to pick up food.
“I would say about 14 miles. Some do… We have some in Egner… and Cajon… So 14 miles,” she said.
She said she also spends time reminding families to come get boxes and thinking through who may not yet be reached.
At the state level, CDHS said about 2,500 children in Montezuma County and about 150 children in Dolores County were expected to receive Summer EBT this year. The agency said the vast majority of eligible children statewide were issued benefits in late May, totaling more than 400,000 children across Colorado.
Families who are not automatically enrolled may still need to apply if their child attends a school that participates in the National School Lunch Program and their household income is at or below 185% of the federal poverty guidelines. Families can check enrollment through the state’s Summer EBT enrollment checker at co.gov/sebtenrollment.
CDHS also said mail delivery for Summer EBT cards was taking longer than expected this summer. Families waiting on a new or replacement card were advised to allow 30 days from the date it was issued. The agency said families should not request another replacement card while waiting, because doing so can deactivate the card already on the way and restart the waiting period.
Anya Rose, Director of Public Policy at Hunger Free Colorado, said Summer EBT and summer meal sites serve different roles but work together.
“Summer meal sites are open to anyone under age 18. There’s no application, you can show up, you can get a meal,” she said. “And then Summer EBT goes to a really big group of Colorado students, it is benefits on a card that you can use at any grocery store that accepts SNAP.”
Rose said families can use both programs. But she said not every community has a meal site, and not every family has transportation to get to one.
That leaves some communities relying on a patchwork of state benefits, local programs, food banks, youth organizations and volunteers.
Howell said Dove Creek ROCK’s program is helping, but she hopes next year’s version will be smoother. For now, she said the goal is straightforward: make sure children have food when school meals are not available.
