This article is republished as part of a collaborative content-sharing agreement between Ball State Unified Media and Indiana Public Radio, established to expand access to high-quality journalism and to better inform and serve the public through trusted, in-depth reporting.
The deadline for states to decide whether to participate in SUN Bucks — a federal program that helps provide money for meals during the summer — is approaching, after Indiana opted out of the program last year.
But local groups focused on hunger say the program helped feed hundreds of thousands of children while school was out, and warn students could struggle to eat during the summer if the state doesn’t opt back in before the deadline on January 1…