Where can Manatee County kids and families find free food this summer? Here’s a list

With children out of school for summer break, anti-hunger organizations are working to provide healthy, balanced meals throughout Manatee County.

It is a hard time for parents who count on free school meals to feed their children, advocates say.

“Going to the grocery store is so much more expensive now,” said Maribeth Phillips, president and CEO of Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee. “We’re seeing a huge increase in need from families that can’t afford food. They’re one episode away from a complete disaster financially.”

In Manatee County, 49,370 people, or 12.2%, were food insecure in 2022, according to the most recent data from Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap. The average cost of a meal was $4.50 that same year, the data shows.

Here’s where children and families can find free meals in Manatee County:

Manatee County Schools

Manatee County Schools will partner with Summer BreakSpot to give free meals to children 18 and younger at 60 locations across the county.

The school district will serve about 24,000 meals a week at summer camps, parks, community centers, churches and more. Children need to eat all meals on-site.

You can find the nearest Summer BreakSpot location by calling 211, texting “food” to 304-304 or visiting SummerBreakSpot.org.

Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee

Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee and The Food Bank of Manatee will give families two days’ worth of meals.

The anti-hunger organization will serve about 1,500 meals a week at parks and churches. Families can expect free breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

The Food4Families distributions will take place every Friday at the following locations:

• 11 a.m. to Noon at Manatee Mobile Home Park, 2204 Manatee Ave. E., Bradenton
• Noon to 1 p.m. at Turner Chapel, 317 11th St. W., Palmetto
• 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Pride Park, 6032 Ninth St. E., Bradenton
• 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Lincoln Park, 501 17th St. E., Palmetto

You can find more information on the Meals on Wheels Plus website.

Feeding Tampa Bay

Starting Sat., June 8, Feeding Tampa Bay will give families a week’s worth of groceries.

Families can pick up groceries twice a month on Saturdays, from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., at Church of Christ, 204 Martin Luther King Ave. E., Bradenton.

You can view the calendar for the grocery distributions on the Feeding Tampa Bay website.