Beginning on June 1, a group of 15 volunteers made up of predominantly Sewanee students and recent graduates began distributing summer meals to children around the South Cumberland Plateau. The program has been in operation since 2016 with the goal of increasing nutrition access and food security for children ages 2 to 18 during the summer break. It is supported by a grant from the Department of Agriculture and the SCP AmeriCorps program.

The University’s Dining Services work with the AmeriCorps volunteers to manage and distribute pre-packaged shelf-stable meals at nine locations ranging from Beersheba Springs to Sherwood.

This summer the program, directed by Interim Director of the Office of Civic Engagement Mandy Bouldin was able to distribute 99,164 meals to an average of 1,101 children weekly. Conservative estimates put the total number of children served over the summer at 1,681. The program has grown annually and increased from 92,000 meals in 2025. Meal service ended the week of July 31 just before local schools returned to classes.

The program is very grateful to their community partners for hosting the meal distribution locations: Altamont Public Library, Beersheba Springs Medical Clinic, Coalmont Elementary (UT Extension), Crow Creek Community Center, Grundy Safe Communities Coalition, Morton Memorial United Methodist Church, Palmer Public Library, Pelham United Methodist Church, and Trinity Episcopal Church.