Summer EBT in Oklahoma
What are the stats on hunger in Oklahoma?
- Oklahoma has about 403,000 children eligible to receive the Summer EBT benefit. This would result in about $48,360,000 in benefits being distributed to struggling families this summer.
- More than one in five (208,110) Oklahoma children do not get the food they need.
- 15.6% of Oklahoma households are food insecure.
- 4.3 out of every 100 eligible children in Oklahoma participated in Summer Meals programs in 2023.
What is Summer EBT?
Summer EBT is a new federal program that provides grocery-buying benefits to low-income families with school-aged children when schools are closed for the summer. Summer EBT was established by Congress in December of 2022 and is based on USDA’s Summer EBT for Children Demonstration projects and Pandemic EBT (P-EBT), which have been proven to reduce child hunger and improve diet quality. These benefits work together with other available USDA nutrition assistance programs, such as Summer Meals sites, SNAP, and WIC, to help ensure children have consistent access to critical nutrition when school is out.
You might have heard this program called “Summer WIC,” “P-EBT,” or “Sun Bucks.” Summer EBT is similar to WIC, but it is a different program. It is also different than P-EBT, which permanently ended in 2022. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and some states call it Sun Bucks, but in Oklahoma it is referred to as Summer EBT.
How can I help?
Click here to sign-on to ask Governor Stitt to opt in to Summer EBT for 2025. With your help, close to 450,000 kids will have better access to meals in summer 2025.
What is Hunger Free Oklahoma doing?
To address Oklahoma’s participation in Summer EBT for 2025, Hunger Free Oklahoma (HFO) will advocate for statewide Summer EBT coverage in 2025. HFO has been invited to participate in several media coverage opportunities about this topic, including:
- Chris Bernard, President/CEO, wrote an OpEd for The Oklahoman.
- The Washington Post interviewed Chris for a front-page story.
- The New York Times interviewed Chris for their publication.
- KFOR featured Hunger Free Oklahoma and the participating Tribes for Summer EBT in 2024 in this story.
- The Washington Post interviewed an Oklahoma mother about her struggles feeding her children in summer 2024.
Will this affect Summer Meals programs?
It is important to note that traditional and non-congregate summer meal programs are not impacted by Summer EBT and will continue to operate across the state of Oklahoma this summer.
Where can I find more information on the Summer EBT program?
- United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) website
- Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) website
What is the difference between Summer EBT and P-EBT?
The Summer EBT and Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) programs are very similar, but there are a couple of key differences:
- Summer EBT benefits are $40 per summer month per eligible child. While 2023 Summer P-EBT benefits were at the same $40/month rate, 2020-2022 P-EBT amounts were much higher.
- In P-EBT, students in CEP districts all received benefits without additional action required. In Summer EBT, students must be directly certified for school meals through programs like SNAP or Medicaid, have been certified for free or reduced-price school meals in the preceding school year through the FRPL application, or they must fill out an application through the administering agency (state or Tribe) and found to be eligible.
What other food resources are available in Oklahoma?
For more information on other food resources, please visit our Food Resource Tool online here.