Children experiencing food insecurity this summer will have multiple services available to them to get free, nutritional meals.

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The Michigan Department of Education’s Summer Food Service Program — known nationally as  known as the SUN Meals To-Go program and known in Michigan as Meet Up and Eat Up,  — provides children in need with nutritious meals at on-site locations all across the state.

Families that can’t visit an on-site service can visit the meals to-go locations to take meals home. To find a location near you, visit Michigan.gov/meetupeatup.

Another option for summer meals is the SUN Bucks Michigan Summer EBT program administered by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The program provides $120 for groceries per child through an EBT card. However, Health Department officials say because this program is backed by federal dollars, the program is in jeopardy this year due to proposed federal cuts to food assistance benefits and Medicaid.

For now, funding is still in place and families can take advantage. 

Other headlines for Thursday, June 26, 2025:

• The Wayne Mobile Health Unit (WMHU) is hosting a free vision clinic today through Saturday, June 28, at Grace Community Church. 21001 Moross Rd., Detroit. The event, held in partnership with Detroit OneSight Vision Clinic and Hap CareSource, will offer free comprehensive eye exams and prescription glasses, as well as free blood pressure checks, oral screenings, dental exams, hearing tests and more.
• The city of Detroit is hosting a Veterans Resource Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Friday at the Northwest Activities Center. The free event will have career opportunities, veteran support services, community resources, and more.
• It’s national Homeownership Month and Detroit Project REACh is teaming up with Detroit Future City and other community organizations to host the 2025 Homebuyers Fair at Huntington Place this Saturday. There will be two sessions, with the first from 10 a.m. to noon and the second from 1 to 3 p.m.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

In a nation where supermarkets are filled from floor to ceiling, a single missed phone call can empty a family’s pantry and leave children going to bed hungry.

Investigative journalist and author Tracie McMillan knows this firsthand, both from her own experience with SNAP benefits, or food stamps, and her years reporting on America’s working poor. 

In McMillan’s recent piece for The New York Times, we meet Jocelyn Walker, a mother and entrepreneur from metro Detroit who is struggling to make ends meet and is stuck in this bureaucratic maze.  

McMillan joined The Metro to discuss why hunger remains a persistent reality in America today.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

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