Gallup-McKinley schools expand free summer meal program countywide

Free meals are back at Gallup-McKinley County Schools sites across Gallup, Crownpoint, Tohatchi, Thoreau, Ramah and Navajo, with service starting June 16 and five-day meal kits handed out on Wednesdays during June. The district says lunches are being served at parks, schools and apartment complexes, and the schedule changes through the summer, making the program especially important for families who have to plan around work, long drives and limited transportation.

The summer meal program is open to children ages 1 through 18, with no application or registration required under New Mexico’s summer food program. The USDA’s Summer Food Service Program also provides free meals and snacks for children 18 and under during the school break, and it notes that some rural communities use meal pick-up or delivery. For McKinley County families spread between Gallup and outlying communities, that flexibility can make the difference between getting to a meal site and missing it.

Five-day meal kits were scheduled on Wednesdays in June at Catherine A. Miller Elementary, Chee Dodge Elementary, Crownpoint Elementary, David Skeet Elementary, Del Norte Elementary, Indian Hills Elementary, Jefferson Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, Miyamura High School, Navajo Elementary, Ramah Elementary, Stagecoach Elementary, Thoreau Elementary, Tohatchi Elementary and Turpen Elementary. That footprint reaches deep into the county, including communities where distance and road time can make school meals harder to access once classrooms close for the summer.

The need is stark. Roadrunner Food Bank’s Map the Meal Gap summary says New Mexico’s overall food insecurity rate is 16.6%, while 23.3% of the state’s children are food insecure. In McKinley County, the overall rate is 22.9% and the child food insecurity rate is 33.8%, among the highest in New Mexico. Roadrunner puts the state’s meal gap at 66,402,403 meals and estimates the annual food budget shortfall for New Mexicans at risk of food insecurity at more than $220,456,000.

GMCS says its 2025-26 Universal Lunch and School Breakfast Program covers 32 schools, showing that summer feeding is part of a larger district strategy, not a one-time service. With summer sites extending beyond Gallup into Crownpoint, Tohatchi, Thoreau, Ramah and Navajo, the district is using its campuses as food-access hubs while regular school meals are off the table.