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Where to find free summer meals and food in Philadelphia

No income limits, no ID, and no proof of citizenship. Just grab a plate and eat.

Sahiyah Cooper, 8, front right, Egypt Savage, 11, back left, during a lunch provided by Philabundance at the Police Athletic League, in South Philadelphia, July 10, 2019. Philabundance is tripling the number of meals it's providing this summer for low-income children. Summer is the hungriest time of year for Philly kids, since they're not eating breakfast and lunch in school.
Sahiyah Cooper, 8, front right, Egypt Savage, 11, back left, during a lunch provided by Philabundance at the Police Athletic League, in South Philadelphia, July 10, 2019. Philabundance is tripling the number of meals it's providing this summer for low-income children. Summer is the hungriest time of year for Philly kids, since they're not eating breakfast and lunch in school.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer
    by Henry Savage
    Updated 
    Published 

When schools close for summer, thousands of Philadelphia students lose access to their primary source of breakfast and lunch each weekday. To fill that food gap, partners provide free, ready-to-eat meals across the city all summer long.

Where to find free summer meals for kids in Philadelphia
Who is eligible for free summer meals in Philadelphia?
What meals are available at free summer meal sites?
Meal sites for kids, adults, and older adults in Philadelphia
Free food and meals near Philadelphia

In a city where it costs nearly $300 in food and beverage costs per month to feed one person on average, and more than 50,000 students receive free school lunches every single day during the school year, these kinds of programs are a lifeline.

“We know that the need in Philadelphia is great,” said Sheila Simmons, Chief of Communications and Strategies at the city’s Office of Children and Families. “Twenty percent of families who took the 2021-2022 School District of Philadelphia district-wide survey reported facing food insecurity. That’s higher than the city, state, or national level.”

Beginning Monday, June 17, the first free summer meal sites through the city open throughout Philadelphia for children and teens age 18 and under to get free breakfast, lunch, and snacks through Friday, August 23.

Who we spoke to for this article

These programs are possible through federally funded, state-operated programs that pay for and deliver free meals to locations throughout the city and suburbs. There are also meal programs provided through organizations like Philabundance that leverage local partnerships and their own commercial kitchen to serve meals.

“The Philabundance Summer LunchBox program provides what many families need while schools are closed — free breakfast & lunch for children — but, just as important, it provides what our kids want,” said Dorothy Wong, Chief Partnerships & Strategy Officer at Philabundance. “The meals that our chefs at our Community Kitchen designed are both healthy and wholesome.”

Sabre Washington, 7, left, Hytheem Fielder, 13, center, during a lunch provided by Philabundance at the Police Athletic League, in South Philadelphia, July 10, 2019. Philabundance provides free summer lunches through its Summer Lunchbox meal program at various locations throughout the city.
Sabre Washington, 7, left, Hytheem Fielder, 13, center, during a lunch provided by Philabundance at the Police Athletic League, in South Philadelphia, July 10, 2019. Philabundance provides free summer lunches through its Summer Lunchbox meal program at various locations throughout the city.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer

Where to find free summer meals for kids in Philadelphia

The easiest way to find a nearby meal site is by using the city’s food and meal finder tool at phila.gov/food.

Free summer meal sites for kids will show up in red on the map as “Student Meal Sites.” You can use the filter options to only show those sites, which will be updated for the summer on Friday, June 14. Click on a meal site to see their meal times. The tool will be updated weekly throughout the summer.

These city meal sites are operated by Parks & Recreation, Nutritional Development Services of the Archdiocese, and the Philadelphia Housing Authority. Philabundance’s Summer LunchBox meal sites are also included on the food and meal finder tool.

The most common summer meal sites are Parks & Rec Playstreets, which include hundreds of one-way blocks that are closed to traffic on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. where lunches and snacks are provided to kids and teens 18 and under.

The food and meal finder tool is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, and Russian by clicking on the globe icon at the top right of the webpage.

Andrea Cooper-Chamberlain hands Savon Taylor one of the lunches she distributes each day from her home in Darby Borough. "It's good we have this program," Taylor said of her efforts.
Andrea Cooper-Chamberlain hands Savon Taylor one of the lunches she distributes each day from her home in Darby Borough. "It's good we have this program," Taylor said of her efforts.Read moreDAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer

Who is eligible for free summer meals in Philadelphia?

Every single person in Philadelphia is eligible to receive free summer meals and food at hundreds of participating locations across Philadelphia, with no income requirements, identification, proof of citizenship, or registration needed.

However, some sites serve specific populations like student meal sites or older adult meal sites. General meal sites serve everyone.

  1. Any person who is age 18 or under can receive free summer meals at “Student Meal Sites.”

  2. Any person can receive free summer meals at “General Meal Sites,” regardless of age.

  3. Any adult age 55 and over can receive free summer meals at “Older Adult Meal Sites” (some sites require adults to be age 60 and over to receive a free meal).

Just show up to an eligible meal site, and eat.

What meals are available at free summer meal sites?

The majority of sites serve either breakfast and lunch or lunch and an afternoon snack. Meal service times vary by location. Summer meals must be eaten at the meal site.

At city meal sites, breakfast will often come with cereals, bagels, and muffins. Lunches can include PB&J, Italian caprese sandwich, build-your-own-pizza, and chicken salad sandwiches as a main course, with fruit cups, pita bread, and salads on the side. Snacks may include graham crackers, string cheese, muffins, and chips.

A few samples from Philabundance’s Summer LunchBox includes zesty buffalo chicken pasta salad, build-your-own PB&J, and build-a-tacos.

In foreground is George Moody, a volunteer for the past three months loading a DoorDash car with food for seniors in February. Share Food Program in Hunting Park is among the largest DoorDash operations in the world.
In foreground is George Moody, a volunteer for the past three months loading a DoorDash car with food for seniors in February. Share Food Program in Hunting Park is among the largest DoorDash operations in the world.Read moreAlejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

Meal sites for kids, adults, and older adults in Philadelphia

There are free summer meals for all Philadelphians, regardless of age. Use the phila.gov/food to see general meal sites (in green) and older adult meal sites (in orange).

There are also sites that provide free groceries through food sites (in blue).

Free food and meals near Philadelphia

Don’t live in Philly? No problem. Philabundance and the Share Food Program operate in many of the Philadelphia collar counties.

Philabundance serves Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania, and Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem counties in New Jersey. Share Food Program operates in Delaware and Montgomery counties on top of Philadelphia.

Search for free food and meal sites at philabundance.org/find-food-food-map and sharefoodprogram.org/find-food.