This summer, Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) will again provide free breakfast and lunch to children up to 18 years old through the Summer Meals Program. 

The program, funded by the federal government, does not have income-based requirements and does not require registration. Children do not have to be enrolled in a particular school or be eligible for free and reduced-price meals during the regular school year. 

Children are required to eat the meal on-site, and families that arrive at a school for a meal must check in at the front office, according to a district press release.  

Baby formula, cereal and food will also be available, but FNS asks families to call its office at (352) 955-7539 two days ahead of time to arrange for those items. 

The district will serve meals at more than 70 sites, including schools and other locations. 

“Families can take their children to the site that’s most convenient for them,” Jamie Lovett, director of FNS, said in a press release. “They just show up during the serving times and enjoy a nutritious meal, with no registration required.” 

Several new mobile sites are set to open this summer, one each in Alachua, Archer, East Gainesville and High Springs, plus four stops in Hawthorne. At the mobile sites, families can pick up food twice a week to cover seven days’ worth of meals. 

“This year they’re allowing us to do something similar to what we did during COVID, as long as the sites meet the rural criteria,” Caron Rowe, FNS supervisor, said in a phone interview.

Mobile site bags will contain ingredients for breakfasts and lunches the families can prepare at home. No other sites allow families to pick up meals to prepare at home. 

Most sites will open during the week of June 3, but hours of operation and dates open vary. For more information, or to find your site, go to the Your Choice Fresh website and click the “Summer Break Spot” banner, or call (352) 955-7539.