The Every Meal Program, formerly the Sheridan Story, was created to end child hunger.
More than 300,000 children in Minnesota live with food insecurity. When these children don’t have access to the free and reduced meal programs at school, they don’t have access to reliable food and the risk of hunger is very real. Every Meal works to fight hunger in our community by filling the gaps in food access that children face during weekends, summers, and extended breaks.
Every Meal facilitates a partnership between community organizations (i.e. churches, businesses, other faith communities) and schools. These partner groups are called Sponsors. Sponsors partner directly with a specific school and donate towards the cost of the program. They also typically volunteer in the school each week to distribute the food to the kids. The food is distributed discreetly, typically into the kids’ backpacks while they aren’t in the halls. Every Meal focuses on the food gaps when children aren’t able to receive free and reduced meal programs. Every Meal provides weekend and other food gap programs. This program is available and open to ALL families regardless of economic status. If you are interested in this program, please reach out to your school counselor or social worker listed by school in the following documents.
Middle/High School Counselors, Social Workers & Psychologists
Elementary Counselors, Social Workers & Psychologists
They also provide a list of free resources for summer break! Summer Eats Minnesota a network of sites that serve free, healthy, and delicious meals during the summer to children up to the age of 18. This program is free and no registration is required.