USDA extends free school meal program till December

(CNN) - The US Department of Agriculture is extending a free school meal program to millions of children.

The program allows families in need to pick up free food from any convenient school campus, even if their child is not enrolled there.

In the past, this program was only offered during summer months when school is not in session.

Due to the pandemic, the USDA launched the new school lunch program in March at 80,000 sites nationwide. Until this week, the program was supposed to expire in September when children were expected to return to school.

It has now been extended until at least the end of year.

The expanded program allows for free meals to be provided at any time during the day whether kids are on-site or learning virtually.

It’s estimated that around 30 million children benefit from the school lunches each day.

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