{"id":27388,"date":"2025-10-31T01:56:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T01:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/27388\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T01:56:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T01:56:11","slug":"cape-coral-fort-myers-restaurants-offering-free-kids-meals-until-snap-benefits-restored","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/27388\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Coral, Fort Myers restaurants offering free kids meals until SNAP benefits restored"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roger Lolly and Louis Cioffi know a good idea when they hear one.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my wife saw what Chicken Salad Chick was doing, I mentioned it to Roger,\u201d Cioffi, who co-owns Florida Boy Burger Co.<\/a> with Lolly, said. \u201cHe immediately said, \u2018Let\u2019s do it.\u2019 It wasn\u2019t our idea. But we saw their post and are following their lead because it\u2019s a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A notice posted at Chicken Salad Chick’s Fort Myers location informs customers of the free kids meals available until SNAP benefits are restored.<\/p>\n

What they\u2019re doing is offering free kids’ meals until SNAP benefits are restored in Florida. As of press time, with the government shutdown, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits were set to lapse Nov. 1. Nearly 3 million Floridians are expected to lose those benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not taking sides or making this political,\u201d a post on Chicken Salad Chick\u2019s Facebook page read. \u201cWe just believe that no child should ever go hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where to get your free kids meals\"A<\/p>\n

A half a chicken salad sandwich with fruit cup and juice box are one of the free kids meals being offered at Chicken Salad Chick in Fort Myers, Estero and Port Charlotte locations until SNAP benefits are restored.<\/p>\n

Since Oct. 29, kids ages 10 and younger have received one free kids meal per day at Chicken Salad Chick\u2019s Fort Myers, Estero and Port Charlotte locations. The child must be present, dine-in only and no other purchase is required.<\/p>\n

Kids meal options include mac n cheese, a half of a chicken salad sandwich or a half of a turkey sandwich. All come with a fruit cup or chips and a juice box or fountain drink.<\/p>\n

\"Chicken<\/p>\n

Chicken Salad Chick has several Southwest Florida locations, including this one in Fort Myers.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s look out for our children, who are both our most vulnerable and most valuable,\u201d the fast-casual restaurant\u2019s post concluded. \u201cThey are our future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida Boy Burger<\/a> Co.\u2019s Cape Coral and Fort Myers locations have a similar plan.<\/p>\n

Children in kindergarten through 12th grade since Oct. 30 began receiving ne free kids meal per day at both locations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s available now,\u201d Cioffi said. \u201cI already told my staff to handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Florida<\/p>\n

Florida Boy Burger opened July 29, 2024, in Fort Myers.<\/p>\n

Options include a hamburger, cheeseburger, mac n cheese, chicken strips, hot dog and grilled cheese, all served with fries and a kids drink.<\/p>\n

\u201cPutting politics aside, this is about community,\u201d Cioffi said. \u201cIt\u2019s the right thing. It\u2019s us as a human race. We have to do the right thing for each other. We\u2019re always going to try to give back if we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edible Arrangements\"Kids<\/p>\n

Kids can receive a free fruit cup at Southwest Florida Edible Arrangements locations until SNAP benefits are restored.<\/p>\n

Southwest Florida locations of this business, which specializes in fresh fruit arrangements, are helping out too. Kids can receive a fruit cup, made fresh daily, now until SNAP benefits are restored. No other purchase is necessary. Find them at 14261 S Tamiami Trail, Suite 16 in Fort Myers; 15201 N Cleveland Ave., Unit 607 in North Fort Myers; 26381 S Tamiami Trail, Suite 100 in Bonita Springs; and 1267 Airport Road S in Naples. Go to ediblearrangement.com<\/a> for more.<\/p>\n

Chicken Salad Chick, 7925 Dani Drive, Unit 100, Fort Myers, (239) 744-3023; 10151 Estero Town Commons Place, Unit 201, Estero, (239) 790-7108; 1799 S Tamiami Trail, Suite 104, Port Charlotte, (941) 699-2445; chickensaladchick.com<\/a> or follow on Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Florida Boy Burger Co., 4480 Fowler St., Unit 110, Fort Myers, (239) 245-7145; 1402 Del Prado Blvd., Cape Coral, (239) 471-7128; burgers.inc<\/a> or follow on Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Robyn George is a food and dining reporter for The News-Press. Connect at\u00a0rhgeorge@fortmyer.gannett.com<\/a><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Two local restaurants offer free kids meals until SNAP returns<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Roger Lolly and Louis Cioffi know a good idea when they hear one. \u201cWhen my wife saw what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,3045,897,20468,20469,20467,20466,20470,11732],"class_list":["post-27388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-chicken-salad-chick","tag-fort-myers","tag-free-kids","tag-free-kids-meal","tag-free-kids-meals","tag-louis-cioffi","tag-roger-lolly","tag-snap-benefits"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}