Maryland Hunger Solutions Celebrates the Rollout of SUN Bucks in Maryland

BALTIMORE, July 2, 2024 —  Maryland Hunger Solutions is thrilled to celebrate the rollout of the Summer EBT Program, which will be known as Maryland SUN Bucks, and commends the state’s Department of Human Services and Maryland State Department of Education for their partnership and working diligently to successfully launch this important new program.

SUN Bucks is designed to help replace the school meals that families rely on during the school year to keep summer hunger at bay. The program provides eligible families with $120 per child in grocery benefits on an Electronic Benefit Transfer card during the summer months, which will be distributed as $40 per month in June, July, and August.  While most eligible students will receive this benefit automatically on existing SNAP EBT cards or on newly mailed SUN Bucks EBT cards, Maryland has numerous community eligibility provision (CEP) schools whose students may need to apply online using the myMDThink portal.

With the ending of SNAP emergency allotments and many other pandemic-related program supports, more Maryland households than ever are facing poverty and hunger. Summer can be one of the hungriest times of the year for children. The implementation of Maryland SUN Bucks, combined with summer nutrition programs, will ensure Maryland students have sufficient nutrition during the summer and can return to school well-nourished and ready to learn.

SUN Bucks complements the existing USDA Food and Nutrition Services Summer Nutrition Programs,  which play a vital role in reducing childhood hunger and often link children to summer enrichment programming. Despite these strengths, summer meals reach only a fraction of the children who rely on free and reduced-price school meals during the school year. SUN Bucks will help bridge that gap for an estimated 543,000 children across the state.

To find more information about the implementation of Maryland SUN Bucks and answers to frequently asked questions, visit dhs.maryland.gov/SUNBucks.

To locate a summer meal site, visit www.mdsummermeals.org.