{"id":294236,"date":"2026-06-03T10:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T10:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/294236\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T10:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T10:48:08","slug":"families-feeling-grocery-pinch-can-get-free-weekly-meal-boxes-for-kids-in-ruskin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/294236\/","title":{"rendered":"Families feeling grocery pinch can get free weekly meal boxes for kids in Ruskin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

RUSKIN, Fla. – A weekly meal-box program is now available for families in South Hillsborough County<\/a> as children settle into summer break.<\/p>\n

Hillsborough County Public Schools launched its weekly summer meal distribution site Wednesday at the South County Career Center in Ruskin, giving families the opportunity to pick up a week’s worth of meals in a single visit.<\/p>\n

The launch comes after the district’s broader Summer Feeding Program began June 1 at HOST sites across the county. Additional locations are scheduled to open June 8 as summer programs get underway. In all, the district plans to offer meals at more than 150 sites this summer.<\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

The Ruskin location is the only site in Hillsborough County offering weekly take-home meal boxes.<\/p>\n

Families can pick up seven breakfasts, seven lunches and a gallon of milk for each eligible child every Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through July 22.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Unlike traditional summer meal sites, children do not need to be present during pickup, and the meals do not need to be eaten on site.<\/p>\n

The program is open to children and teens 18 and younger who are not enrolled in a summer program that already provides meals.<\/p>\n

School officials say the weekly distribution model is designed to make it easier for families to access food throughout the summer.<\/p>\n

Why you should care:<\/p>\n

Many children who receive breakfast and lunch at school during the academic year lose that daily source of meals once summer begins.<\/p>\n

Research shows food insecurity is more common among children in low-income households during the summer months, and studies have found school meal programs help reduce food insecurity while improving access to nutritious food.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Shani Hall, general manager of Student Nutrition Services for Hillsborough County Public Schools, said the need is growing across the community.<\/p>\n

“There are more families than in several years that I can remember that are in need of help paying for food,” Hall said.<\/p>\n

Hall said the district is receiving calls from families looking for food assistance and hearing concerns about the rising cost of groceries and other household expenses.<\/p>\n

“We have several students who rely on school meals throughout the school year,” Hall said. “Summer comes, and that is a big question that a lot of families have: how can I prepare meals and serve meals to my kids throughout the summer?”<\/p>\n

What’s in the summer meal boxes? <\/p>\n

Hall said the meals follow USDA nutrition standards and include balanced options featuring whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and dairy products.<\/p>\n

Each child receives seven days of breakfasts and lunches, along with a gallon of milk.<\/p>\n

Some of the food is frozen, and families are encouraged to refrigerate or freeze items soon after pickup.<\/p>\n

District officials say they prepared for strong turnout on the first day and will evaluate demand as the program continues through the summer.<\/p>\n

How to find a meal distribution site <\/p>\n

Families can find summer meal locations anywhere in Florida by visiting summerbreakspot.org and entering their ZIP code.<\/p>\n

The website includes locations, dates and serving times for meal sites throughout the state.<\/p>\n

The Source: Information in this story comes from Hillsborough County Public Schools, district announcements about the Summer Feeding Program, a media advisory provided to FOX 13, and interviews with Shani Hall, general manager of Student Nutrition Services for Hillsborough County Public Schools.<\/p>\n

Hillsborough County<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RUSKIN, Fla. – A weekly meal-box program is now available for families in South Hillsborough County as children…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[47,629,115,202,204,203,199,201,200,628],"class_list":["post-294236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-fl","tag-hillsborough","tag-news","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294236","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=294236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}