There is no sound harder for a parent to hear than a child saying, “I’m hungry,” when there is no easy answer. During the school year, Wyoming families can count on school breakfast and lunch to help keep little bellies full. But when the final bell rings in May, those meals disappear — and for too many families, worry quietly takes their place.
Summer should be a season of sunshine, scraped knees, and long evenings outside. Instead, for many parents, it becomes a season of stretching groceries, skipping meals, and hoping the pantry lasts until payday.
In 2025, Wyoming had only 88 summer meal sites in 32 communities across 18 of our 23 counties. Many rural, tribal, and ranching families live hours from the nearest site. Federal summer feeding rules from the United States Department of Agriculture are built around centralized meal programs that work best in cities, leaving too many children in rural communities out of reach.
This is where SUN Bucks becomes more than a program — it becomes a lifeline.
SUN Bucks gives income-qualified families the flexibility to buy groceries close to home when distance, fuel costs, work schedules, weather, or lack of transportation make daily trips to meal sites unrealistic. It complements — not replaces — traditional summer meal programs by reaching children who otherwise fall through the cracks.
For rural families, flexibility is everything. A parent juggling long work hours or multiple jobs cannot always drive across counties at a specific time each day for a meal pickup. A family living miles down a gravel road cannot always afford the fuel for repeated trips into town. SUN Bucks respects these realities and gives parents the dignity to provide meals at their own kitchen tables — helping them keep little bellies full where children feel safest and most loved.
The program also strengthens Wyoming’s rural economy. Families spend these federal nutrition dollars at local grocery stores and small-town retailers, supporting jobs, supply chains, and businesses that often serve as lifelines in rural communities. When we invest in feeding children, we also invest in the communities that raise them.
If we believe in feeding children during the school year, we must believe in feeding them during the summer. Hunger does not take a vacation. In a rural state like Wyoming, programs designed for cities simply cannot reach everyone. SUN Bucks helps ensure children continue to have access to food when school is out.
For the past seven years, the Wyoming Hunger Initiative has worked alongside more than 200 partner organizations that feed our neighbors every day. These volunteers and community leaders see what many of us never have to witness: families who work hard, do everything right, and still struggle to keep food on the table. Rising costs for groceries, fuel, rent, and utilities have stretched household budgets to the breaking point. Many families today are no longer one emergency away from hunger — they are one utility bill away from wondering how they will feed their children.
Summer magnifies that struggle. When school meals disappear, the grocery bill doesn’t just grow — it can double. Parents lie awake at night doing math in their heads, hoping they can make it all work. No parent should have to choose between paying the electric bill and buying groceries.
Some have raised concerns about whether SUN Bucks is the right use of state dollars. That concern deserves respect. In Wyoming, we value independence, responsibility, and careful stewardship of public resources. But we also believe deeply in taking care of our own.
SUN Bucks is not a handout. It is a targeted, income-qualified program designed to help working families supplement their grocery budgets during the summer months. It ensures children who already qualify for free or reduced-price school meals continue to have access to food when school cafeterias close. When food banks, churches, and volunteers on the front lines are asked whether this support is needed, the answer is an overwhelming YES!
We often say Wyoming’s children are our greatest resource. Supporting SUN Bucks is our chance to prove we mean it. Because behind every statistic is a child, a family, and a future.
This summer, we have the opportunity to make sure no child in Wyoming goes to bed hungry — one filled little belly at a time.
First Lady Jennie Gordon
