Meet Up And Eat Up, Milwaukee! 2023 Summer Meals Program Provides Daily Meals to Kids, Teens and Families

Jun 12, 2023

With the support and collaboration of community-wide partners and organizations, Hunger Task Force is kicking off the Milwaukee Summer Meals Program this week! This summer, families with kids and teens (18 and under) are invited to Meet up And Eat Up at more than 150 meal sites throughout Milwaukee County. Through this city-wide collaboration, partners will serve more than 400,000 meals to Milwaukee kids—an already high-need time for childhood hunger. Summer Meals will be available in person and on-site at each location this year.

This summer, families with kids and teens (18 and under) are invited to Meet up And Eat Up at more than 150 meal sites throughout Milwaukee County. Meet Up And Eat Up meal sites throughout Milwaukee provide structured, educational and recreational programs to ensure kids have nutritious meals and a place to learn and play. All locations with “Meet Up And Eat Up” signs are safe, supervised places for children to receive up to three meals per day! Additional support from Kohl’s will provide many sites with daily suppers, ensuring three meals a day for children in need outside of daycares and elementary schools.

Meet Up & Eat Up Sites

“I’m very passionate about making sure that every child knows that they have access to healthy meals in their community,” said Ashley Best, Hunger Task Force community nutrition program manager. “I encourage families to try it out one time; they’re going to realize how easy and useful this program is for their family and how much money will save them and also worry less about how they’re going to feed their children the next day.”

“Our Milwaukee community is rich with resources to help kids and families, “Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said. “The summer meals program is one of these resources and will provide thousands of kids right here in our community with nutritious food and allow families to save money and have fun together during the summer months.”

“Hunger Task Force plays such an important role in providing Milwaukee-area youth with access to free and healthy meals during the summer and Kohl’s is proud to support them,” said Tara Geiter, Kohl’s director of community relations. “We are so appreciative of our longtime partnership with Hunger Task Force and look forward to continuing to build on our work together.”

Numerous organizations will host sites and/or offer other support for Milwaukee’s Summer Meals, including Milwaukee Recreation, Social Development Commission, Department of Public Instruction, Kohl’s, Milwaukee County Parks, Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, West Allis/West Milwaukee School District, Salvation Army, Milwaukee Center for Independence, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, No Kid Hungry and USDA.

For more information about the Meet Up And Eat Up Summer Meals program and to view an inactive map with meal site locations, visit HungerTaskForce.org/summermeals or text FOOD to 304-304 to find a meal site in your community.

Hunger Task Force is Milwaukee’s Free & Local food bank and Wisconsin’s anti-hunger leader. The organization provides healthy and nutritious food to hungry children, families and seniors in the community absolutely free of charge. Hunger Task Force was founded in 1974 by a local advocacy group who then formed Milwaukee’s first food bank. Today, Hunger Task Force is 100% supported by the community and provides a safety net of emergency food with dignity to a network of 75 food pantries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters. Through legislative analysis, education and community organizing, Hunger Task Force continues to advocate for anti-hunger policy at the local, state and federal level. For more information, visit HungerTaskForce.org.