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(Des Moines, IA) -- Iowa's Department of Education is allocating nearly a million dollars to the state's Summer Meals for Kids Program to make meals available for low income children at 61 sites across the state this summer.
Luke Elzinga, Chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition tells Iowa's News Now "Those summer sights are a great resource for those kids and families to get make sure that our kids are getting the nutrition they need during the summer months."
Critics say issues for some kids in accessing transportation to the sites, means the program won't provide the same coverage as the $29,000,000 of federal Summer EBT funds the state turned down.
That money would have been sent directly to families in need.
The Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture.
A list of the 61 new summer meal sites, in addition to returning meal site locations, can be found on the Iowa Department of Education's website.
Last year, there were more than 500 meal sites operating across the state.