The North Carolina Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) provides nutritious meals to children who would normally receive free or reduced price meals when school is in session. SFSP helps children to maintain a nutritious diet and helps their families to stretch their food dollars during the summer months.

The program is offered in many and various locations such as parks, playgrounds, housing authorities, day camps, churches, community centers, etc. Often the SFSP meal service is combined with learning and recreational activities for the children.

In 2000, about 574,000 children in North Carolina were eligible to receive SFSP meals. However, less than 10 percent of this number were actually served. Therefore, the Nutrition Services Section is making every effort to publicize the program so that more organizations will sign up to become program sponsors.