As a parent, I know how hard summer can be. When school ends, so do the free meals many families rely on.

Last year, Indiana took a step in the right direction—helping families feed their kids when school cafeterias were closed.

But now, that lifeline is being taken away.

In 2024, hundreds of thousands of Hoosier families who qualified for free or reduced-price school meals received $120 per child, per month through the federal SUN Bucks program—a targeted benefit to help families buy groceries during the summer.

This helped feed 669,000 Indiana children.

But in 2025, Governor Eric Holcomb and Indiana officials are walking away from the program.

They’ve opted out of SUN Bucks, even though the funding is federally provided and could make a critical difference for low-income families during the hungriest time of year.

The state claims the program isn’t needed. Parents across Indiana—especially working families—know otherwise.

We are calling on Governor Holcomb and the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration to reverse course and re-enroll Indiana in the SUN Bucks program.
 

Every child deserves enough to eat—during the school year and during the summer.

SUN Bucks worked. It made a difference. And Indiana should bring it back.