NJ Office of the Food Security Advocate

Supported Initiatives

2024-2025 School Meals and Summer EBT Application: Information for Families and Resources for Community Organizations

It's more than a meal applicaiton it's important to submit the "school meals and summer ebt application" even if you qualified for free meals in the past or your school provides free meals for all.

For Families

New Jersey families can save hundreds of dollars this year on school meals. School meals are offered at no cost to families that qualify. Every year, it’s important to complete the “School Meals and Summer EBT Application” and return it to your school, even if you qualified for free meals in the past or your school provides free meals for all. 

It’s more than a meal application. The application helps your school know if your student is eligible for free or reduced-price school meals and helps your child’s school receive additional funding! Families that qualify for free school meals can also receive additional benefits such as discounted school fees. 

Free school meals save parents:
1. Money. Free school meals save qualifying families about $120 in grocery costs.
2. Time. Applying for school meals saves time at the grocery store and making meals.
3. Stress. Free school meals mean you don’t have to worry about packing or paying for lunch.

For communities, free school meals can mean:
1. Fee waivers for college applications and admissions tests.
2. Resources for teachers and students.
3. Federal, state, and local funding for school budgets.

Plus, more New Jersey families will have access to free school meals, thanks to legislation signed by Governor Murphy that expanded income eligibility guidelines starting this school year. Your child may qualify for free or reduced-price meals if your household income falls at or below the limits on this chart.

You may qualidy for free schools measl even if you did not last year. New State Eligibilty Guidelines. House Size 2 - Annual income $45,786 | House Size 3 - $57,837 | House Size 4 - $69,888 | Learn how to apply by visiting your school website or obtain a paper copy at your school

Also new for this year, the school meals application is now combined with the application for Summer EBT, making it simpler and easier for qualifying families to get the free school meals and Summer EBT nutritional benefits that can help nourish their children’s learning and development throughout this school year and next summer break.

Applying for free school meals is fast, easy, and secure. Applications for the 2024-2025 school year are now available. Pick up a paper application copy at your school or visit your school website to learn more. 

For more information specifically about Summer EBT nutrition program for children who lose access to free school meals during the summer when school is not in session, visit the NJ Summer EBT website here

For Community Organizations

Browse these tools to encourage every family in your community to complete a 2024-2025 School Meals and Summer EBT Application as soon as possible:

  • The multilingual School Meal and Summer EBT Application outreach toolkit, created in partnership between Hunger Free New Jersey and the NJ Office of the Food Security Advocate. It includes the below tools in nine languages:
    • A School Meals and Summer EBT Application explainer and slides
    • Social media graphics and sample posts
    • Email, newsletter, text message, and phone call templates for schools and organizations to use to communicate with families about the School Meals and Summer EBT Application
    • Printable flyers and posters

A recording of the School Meal Applications: Aug. 29 2024 Train the Trainer Session, facilitated by Dr. Dan Dychtwald, Policy Manager for the NJ Office of the Food Security Advocate. The one-hour, train-the-trainer format covers the 2024-2025 School Meal Application process with a step-by-step tour of the application, an overview of the available outreach materials in the School Meal and Summer EBT Application outreach toolkit developed by Hunger Free New Jersey and the office. Viewers will gain a better understanding of who qualifies for free school meals in New Jersey, and why every parent or guardian should complete a School Meals Application every year. Additionally, viewers will be equipped to encourage all parents in every community across the state to complete a School Meals Application.

Summer EBT

Summer EBT is a new-to-NJ child nutrition program intended to reduce hunger and food insecurity for children who lose access to free school meals through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) during the summer when school is not in session. Starting in the summer of 2024, NJ will be sending an EBT card to every eligible child to purchase food at participating retailers. 

For more information, visit the NJ Summer EBT website here

Eligibility: 

If your child is enrolled in the Federal Free and Reduced-Price School Lunch program at a National School Lunch Program-participating school, they will automatically be enrolled in Summer EBT. Your child is eligible to receive a Summer EBT card if your child’s school participates in the National School Lunch Program AND: 

  • Your child receives free meals at school AND your household income is at or under 185% of the 2023-2024 federal poverty level (see table below); or 
  • You applied for School Meals/Summer EBT through your school district AND your household income is at or under 185% of the 2023-2024 federal poverty level (see table below); or 
  • Your household participates in SNAP or TANF; or 
  • Your child is homeless, a migrant, or in foster care; or 
  • Your child attends a Head Start program. 

If your child’s school does not participate in the National School Lunch Program, your child may still be eligible for Summer EBT if: 

  • Your household participates in SNAP or TANF; or 
  • Your child is experiencing homelessness, a migrant, or in foster care. 

 

NJ Food Security Access Fund

The Food Security Access Fund launched in 2023 to strengthen the food security system in New Jersey with a unique approach: bring together private philanthropies and New Jersey state agencies via a partnership with the New Jersey Office of the Food Security Advocate (OFSA) to help nonprofit organizations build capacity and secure more pre-existing public grant opportunities. Funding from the Food Security Access Fund supports these organizations in two ways:

  1. Grant Navigator Support: Human capital support to identify and unlock relevant grants to support their work in building food security.
  1. Capacity Building Support: Financial assistance for organizations and coalitions to expand the research, data and evaluation projects that identify new paths to end food insecurity.

Learn more about the inaugural cohort of grantees on the Tepper Foundation site.

This first-of-its-kind initiative in New Jersey is funded by The Tepper Foundation, the Community Foundation of New Jersey, Novo Nordisk, The Taub Foundation, the Grotta Fund for Older Adults, The Campbell’s Foundation, The O’Toole Family Foundation, and The Schumann Fund for NJ. The invitation for applications is currently closed. 

 

NJ Food Security Initiative

Led by the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the New Jersey Food Security Initiative (NJFSI) is a three-year cross-sector, collaborative, community-centered effort to increase food security and good nutrition, and advance health equity, in New Jersey. NJFSI aims to increase food security, equitable access to healthier food options, and community purchasing power in New Jersey through enhanced infrastructure, coordination across systems, advocacy, and leveraging of federal, state, and local resources, assets, and opportunities. NJFSI seeks to support and uplift existing initiatives and collaborations across New Jersey by providing additional funding opportunities, capacity-building, resources, and technical assistance.

Visit the NJFSI site to learn more for additional information.

 


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