[Baltimore Sun] New summer program to help families buy groceries reached nearly 600,000 Maryland children
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The families of nearly 600,000 hungry school-age children throughout the state received free grocery stipends this summer from the inaugural Maryland SUN Bucks Program, Gov. Wes Moore said Thursday.
The federally funded initiative, which expanded the state’s existing Summer SNAP program, helped feed more than 586,000 needy children from June through August, far surpassing the 90,000 participants who used the SNAP program in 2023.
“No child should ever go hungry – and yet, we know that putting food on the table is a challenge for many Maryland families,” Moore said in a release Thursday. “That’s why our administration launched a frontal assault on child poverty by bringing those closest to the challenges to the table to help us find solutions.
“Maryland SUN Bucks marks our latest action to ensure that our children can stay healthy as they learn and grow — and it won’t be the last.”
The assistance program put $120 ($40 per month) of grocery benefits, per child, in the pockets of families already receiving SNAP and Temporary Cash Assistance or Medicaid. The $70.59 million federal aid package — $10 million more than originally predicted — helped children in all 23 counties and Baltimore City, thus expanding the sweep of its predecessor, which reached 14 jurisdictions in 2023.
The program’s greatest gains came in Western Maryland, which enjoyed a 71-fold boost in participation, and the Eastern Shore, where involvement rose 10-fold.
“In its [first] year, Maryland SUN Bucks has proven to be a tremendous success, making a significant difference across the entire state,” said Rafael López, secretary of the Maryland Department of Human Services, in the release. “These results demonstrate our commitment to ending childhood poverty. We are reaching more children than ever before and helping more families put meals on the table.”
Maryland officials said about 99% of children who received SUN Bucks were automatically enrolled, including students who receive free and reduced-price meals, who live in out-of-home care or who are unhoused or homeless, according to the release.
The funds applied only to food items that were purchased at grocery stores and some farmers markets and online retailers. The benefits were distributed directly to EBT cards or via Maryland SUN Bucks cards. Families have 122 days from the date of issue to use SUN Bucks before they expire.
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