Petition to Salem-Keizer School District
We, the undersigned parents, community members, and residents of Salem-Keizer, respectfully ask the Salem-Keizer School District to return the Summer Meals Program to the same model used in previous years, when families could pick up meals to take home rather than requiring children to eat on-site.

The purpose of the Summer Meals Program is to ensure that children do not go hungry when school is out of session. Unfortunately, the current requirement that children be physically present and consume meals at designated locations creates significant barriers for many families.

Many parents work during meal service hours. Some families do not have reliable transportation. Others have only one vehicle that is unavailable during the day. Rising fuel costs make daily trips difficult for households already struggling financially. Families caring for multiple children, children with disabilities, or those living far from meal sites face even greater challenges.

Last year's program worked because it recognized these realities.

Families could pick up meals and take them home. Parents could coordinate transportation. Neighbors, relatives, churches, and community members could help ensure meals reached children whose families faced barriers. The program was more flexible, more accessible, and more effective at reaching the children it was designed to serve.

The current model places the burden of access entirely on families while reducing the number of children who can realistically participate.

Equity means more than simply offering a service. Equity means ensuring that children can actually access that service regardless of their family's transportation, work schedule, income level, or circumstances.

We are not asking the district to create a new program.

We are simply asking Salem-Keizer School District to return to the previous summer meal distribution model that allowed families to pick up meals and take them home.

By signing this petition, we urge district leadership to:

Restore the grab-and-go meal distribution model used in previous years.
Remove unnecessary barriers that prevent children from accessing summer meals.
Increase participation by making the program accessible to working families and those with transportation challenges.
Prioritize feeding the greatest number of children possible.
No child should miss a meal because their parent is working, lacks transportation, or cannot spend an hour traveling to and from a meal site every day.

Please bring back the summer meal program that worked.

Sign below to support accessible summer meals for all Salem-Keizer children.