What Does F4K Do?
Food 4 Kids works to alleviate childhood hunger and promote literacy on the Lower and Outer Cape by bringing together The Church of the Holy Spirit (Episcopal) and local communities to provide free meals and free books for children and teens in the summer when schools are out.
Food 4 Kids (F4K) operates as part of the Massachusetts Summer EATS program, our state’s branding for the federally funded USDA Summer Food Service Program. The USDA provides 47% of our funding, the remainder comes from grants, business sponsorships, individual donations, and fundraising events.
Each summer weekday that school is out, 49 days over 10 weeks, we serve free meals and give away free books to 450 – 700 local Cape kids ages 3.5-18. Meals are served where the kids are — local recreation and community programs, libraries, parks/public spaces. All meals and books are provided free to the programs and all the children. Children do not have to be enrolled in a program to receive a free meal. Families are welcome to bring their children to any of our locations for a free meal and a chance to win a book.
You can find us in the following towns — visit our Locations page for details.
HARWICH | EASTHAM | CHATHAM | WELLFLEET | BREWSTER
| TRURO | ORLEANS | PROVINCETOWN
Our community partners do the wonderful work and great programming that bring children and youth together in fun, friendly and safe environments where they enjoy our meals. Many of our sites are Grab and Go, increasing the accessibility of a free meal. Families can simply pick up the number of meals needed for the kids at home.
Each season, we:
Partner with local organizations as much as possible to coordinate food purchasing and meeting the needs of local families.
Carefully plan our menus with nutrient-dense breakfasts, lunches, and snacks that are PEANUT/TREE FREE and appeals to kids.
Prepare fresh meals Monday - Friday at The Church of the Holy Spirit in Orleans.
Deliver meals and books to each of our sites.
Provide staff (based on site needs), and train Site Supervisors who serve meals to the children and teens.
Coordinate special programs to encourage children to attend, take a meal, and broaden their palette.
Literacy - Free books: 10% of lunches at every site are packed with a “free book ticket.” Children use their ticket to choose from the Food 4 Kids mini-library that is set out each day. Our books are not just good reads – they are carefully chosen to be age-appropriate and to speak to diversity and inclusion. Local sources of books this year are: Brewster Ladies Library - new books via Brewster Book Store, and Belonging Books.
Literacy - New for 2025, Food 4 Kids is sponsoring an author event featuring GPa Rhymes who will lead the kids through a poetry and rapping activity.
Nutrition - Games facilitated by Site Supervisors to encourage kids to try everything in their lunch and win a prize. New for 2025, nutrition classes offered by the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension will have children select ingredients for a nutrient-dense mini-quesadilla for a snack, and enjoy them together.
We do all this with a small team and amazing group of volunteers.
Year-round, part-time Executive Director who ensures the sustainability and success of the program.
Seasonal Operations Manager who manages all the details for our daily operations including meal planning, food purchasing, oversight of on-site team, and much more.
2 Seasonal Operations Assistants who support the Operations Manager, coordinate volunteers, oversee the packing link and Grab & Go at the church, and generally make daily operations go smoothly and quickly.
Seasonal, part-time Program Manager who coordinates meals sites and Site Supervisors, and ensures we meet DESE regulations and reporting.
Seasonal, part-time Kitchen Manager who contributes to meal planning and oversees all meal preparation by volunteers.
Seasonal, part-time Site Supervisors who serve meals, give out free books, and run occasional nutrition games at select meal sites across our service area.
130+ Volunteers, many of whom return every year to help spread love through food and community!