Free summer meals for kids in Illinois

1,209 summer meal sites in 235 Illinois cities and towns, run by 278 sponsors, from USDA's Summer Meals Site Finder. 74 offer meals to go and 1,135 are eat on-site.

These are last summer's sites

Need food for your kids now? Call the USDA National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGRY (1-866-348-6479), Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern, or check the official USDA Summer Meals Site Finder. The list below is the summer 2026 season, which ended on September 30, 2026. These sites are not listed as open now, and the dates and meal times are from last summer, not a schedule for this year or next summer. Sites for the next summer are usually announced in the spring.

SUN Bucks (Summer EBT) in Illinois

According to USDA, Illinois took part in SUN Bucks (also called Summer EBT) in 2026. See how to apply on USDA's Illinois Summer EBT page. USDA's page was last updated August 14, 2026. To take part, a state or Tribe needs an approved plan from USDA, and each decides again every year. Check the current list on USDA's site for next summer.

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More for Illinois families

Licensed child care and after-school programs in Illinois · Youth and community nonprofits · Illinois rules for child care and camps

Questions families ask

Who can eat at a summer meal site?

USDA says its summer meal programs serve meals and snacks at no cost to children 18 and younger. Sites marked "Open to all kids" are open sites in USDA's data, meaning they welcome children from the community. Sites marked "Open with limits" are open to the community but can limit who attends, for example for safety or space. Hours change, so call the site before you go.

What does "Eat on-site" or "Meals to go" mean?

Eat on-site means meals and snacks are eaten at the site. Meals to go means they can be picked up and eaten somewhere else; some sites hand out more than one day at a time.

When are summer 2027 sites announced?

Sites for the next summer are usually announced in the spring, after sponsors apply to their state agencies. Until then this page shows last summer's list as a guide to which towns and sponsors ran sites. The official place to look is the USDA Summer Meals Site Finder.

Is this the same as SUN Bucks?

No. SUN Bucks, also called Summer EBT, is a separate USDA program that gives eligible families a benefit on a card. Summer meal sites serve meals to kids directly. Your state may offer one, both or neither.

Run a summer program in Illinois?

BackPR is a software company and does not run these meal sites. It is free for registered nonprofits: online registration, payments, waivers, attendance and messages to families. No subscription and no BackPR fee on what families pay.

See the free nonprofit plan · Summer camps · Free forms and templates

Source: USDA Food and Nutrition Administration Summer Meals Site Finder (public data layer), a list that local sponsors give to state agencies and states submit to USDA. Season 2026, serving dates Apr 1, 2026 to Sep 30, 2026, data last updated by USDA Sep 9, 2026. We show spellings, dates, days, meal times, addresses and phone numbers as published and do not check them; late changes may be missing. SUN Bucks (Summer EBT) status is from USDA's participation page, last updated Aug 14, 2026. Sites that deliver meals, closed sites and sites that are not open to the public are not listed, and Puerto Rico and the other territories are not included here. To report a wrong listing, contact your state agency. A listing is not an endorsement.