Summer Food Rocks: A Day on the Road with Congressman McGovern

Every year, people and communities across the state come together to make sure kids and teens have enough to eat when school is out. And let me tell you, once you’ve seen it in action, it really does rock!

That’s why it’s no surprise that Summer Eats gets so much love from the many anti-hunger heroes in our state, but none bigger than Worcester’s Congressman Jim McGovern. By teaming up with policymakers, we can show our elected officials that food insecurity isn’t just a statistic—it’s names, faces, and real families who are up against systemic barriers to access and afford food.  

For 11 years, Congressman Jim McGovern has been committed to seeing Summer Eats in action, visiting multiple sites serving free meals to kids with Project Bread on the Summer Food Rocks Tour. This year he was joined by Secretary of Education Dr. Patrick Tutwiler, Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Pedro Martinez, and of course our community partners at Summer Eats sites in central Massachusetts.

Ready for some behind-the-scenes stories? Join me, Nora from Project Bread, and let’s see the joy you help create every single summer!

Greenfield is distinguished as a rural area, which means it can offer meals in a “grab & go,” or non-congregate format. What does that mean? Well, instead of a child having to eat on-site as federal regulations require for most Summer Eats sites, families can pick up meals and take them home. This makes free meals more accessible for areas where families can’t safely or reasonably come sit down for a meal.

While it’s currently only a perk that rural areas like Greenfield are eligible to utilize, Project Bread continues to advocate for more sites and districts to be able to offer grab & go meals so more kids and families can participate in Summer Eats. 

Families want grab & go, and we’re fighting for them!

When the clock struck 11, cars began to line up fast. Families came to pick up meals—hot dogs with peaches and a cucumber & cherry tomato salad, plus breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the weekend. With about 300 families served every Friday, this team of pros made it look easy!

After families picked up their bags of groceries, many stopped by our Project Bread table to spin the wheel and win some prizes. Some families were just rolling through and didn’t have time, so naturally we brought fidget spinners and carrot-shaped stress-balls to the tiny, outstretched hands waving in the car windows. 

What impressed me most was the Greenfield team. These are passionate staff and volunteers, many from the local schools, who spend their summer making sure kids have what they need. Thanks to your support, teams like this are showing up for kids in every corner of Massachusetts. With just one week left in their program, Greenfield was about to beat last year’s record of serving more than 60,000 meals across 20 sites!

It’s not easy work, but not much is easy these days, am I right? But it’s human nature to want to help, even when we’re facing our own hardships. It’s still up to all of us to help out when and where we can, to help make things a little easier for one another. 

Jen Lemmerman, Project Bread’s Chief Policy Officer, summed up why this matters:

“To supplement families’ grocery budgets and to help them get those meals for their kids is a critical support for the families that are experiencing food insecurity.”

Just 30 minutes down some gorgeous winding roads, we arrived at the Ralph C. Mahar School in Orange. I knew this meal was going to be good when I saw the raised garden beds on the school lawn, but nothing could have prepared me for the delicious smell of fried chicken when I walked into the lively cafeteria. 

Thanks to a state grant, this meal site is able to offer free meals to adults as well as children. There were tables upon tables of families all eating together, and even one squad of seniors who stopped by for some lunch while their grandkids played.

It was very much lunch time at this point, and I must say my stomach was growling for something to eat. Food Service Director Katrina Bressani made sure no one left hungry. I couldn’t resist a drumstick, a heap of homemade pasta salad, and the sweetest watermelon I’ve ever had. Come to find out, it was grown nearby! 

A brief press conference was held with local media partners, and Katrina kicked it off by sharing some of her program’s successes:

• “This summer, we were proud to offer fresh, locally sourced, scratch-made meals with care and creativity to all children and teens in our community. We were fortunate to also be able to offer options, including grab-and-go and adult meals, that create a unique community dining experience—one that stands apart from any program I’ve led in the past.” 

From left to right, Congressman Jim McGovern, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education for Massachusetts Pedro Martinez, Massachusetts Secretary of Education Dr. Patrick Tutwiler, Project Bread Chief Policy Officer Jennifer Lemmerman, and Food Service Director for the Ralph C. Mahar Regional and Union 73 school districts Katrina Bressani. 

“These are meals kids count on, served in welcoming, familiar spaces by trusted staff from schools, rec departments, and community organizations. At Project Bread, we believe hunger is a policy choice. And while at the federal level, we’re seeing harmful choices like SNAP cuts, child nutrition under threat, and barriers to Medicaid, Massachusetts is charting a different course.”

But the fun didn’t stop for kids just because cameras were rolling. A group played off-the-wall with Summer Eats bouncy balls they won by spinning Project Bread’s wheel, while others played lawn games like corn hole or ring toss. Honestly, just seeing kids playing outside without screens was worth the two hour drive!

“Summer meal programs like the ones we saw in Greenfield and Orange are a lifeline for families. They help make sure kids—and with innovative models like the one we visited in Orange, their adult caregivers—don’t go hungry when school is out. These programs reflect the best of what our government can do when it works to make things better for everyday people.”

“It was wonderful to see—and taste!—the delicious, nutritious food that school districts and community organizations are providing to children through Summer Eats. I'm grateful to Project Bread for their outreach work and for their advocacy in this area. It's critical to keep nutrition funds and farm-to-school funds flowing to families and schools if we want to give our students the strongest start possible.”

“We know families’ grocery bills increase in the summer when kids do not have access to school meals. That’s why programs like Summer Eats are so vital, providing kids with nutritious food whether they’re at camp, a park or their local school. Summer Eats is one of the ways the [Governor Healey] administration is working to address childhood food insecurity, and we are so grateful to partners in this work like Congressman McGovern and Project Bread.” 

None of this happens without the support of people like you. Your support of Project Bread means kids and families can count on good food and caring people over summer break. 

Last summer, more than 2.8 million meals were served to kids across over 1,450 sites statewide.

This year, your support of Project Bread has helped more families find and participate in Summer Eats in their community, and has helped sites to keep up with the increase in demand. 

With your help, Project Bread granted a total of $236,482 to Summer Eats 2025 sponsors across the state to help them establish, improve, and expand their program.

Sites typically use these grants for the real “nitty gritty” stuff that varies from site to site. Carts or vans to transport food, and coolers to keep it cold. Kitchen equipment to increase efficiency and meal quality. Funds to hire staff or to invest in engaging activities available in their communities, like a bubble pit in Fitchburg and haircuts in Waltham. Creative outreach and promotion efforts so no family misses their chance to join in on the free food and fun.

Seeing the smiles, the teamwork, and the pride in these communities reminded me that thanks to your support, Summer Eats really does rock, and so do you. Thanks for being a part of it!