Committee hears how 'Meals to You' delivers summer food to remote Alaska households

Food Bank of Alaska’s chief programs officer, Anthony Reinert, told the House Tribal Affairs Committee that the Meals to You summer program has become a vital option for reaching children in remote Alaska.

"Meals to You alone served over 1,000,000 meals last season," Reinert said, adding the program reached just under 10,000 students in June–August. Reinert said the program began as a Baylor University pilot in 2019, expanded during the pandemic, and moved into a state demonstration phase in 2023.

Reinert described the vendor and postal logistics that make the program operational in Alaska. McLean Hunger Solutions, selected through a federal bid process, builds custom boxes with Alaska‑specific content and works directly with the U.S. Postal Service to load boxes onto planes bound for Alaska. Reinert said that approach halves shipping time and reduced box damage to below 1%.

Because Meals to You must meet USDA nutrition rules and use shelf‑stable items that survive long transit, the program sacrifices some bulk efficiency for direct household delivery, Reinert said. Each Meals to You box contains 10 breakfasts and 10 lunches and an 8‑ounce shelf‑stable milk unit; menus rotate across three options and include lower/no‑sugar cereals and culturally relevant items such as jerky when possible under federal guidelines.

Committee members asked for a district/school list; Reinert said 31 school districts worked with the program last year and 27 had signed up so far for the upcoming season, and Food Bank staff will provide a school‑district list to legislators.

What happens next: Food Bank will follow up with the committee by email with the list of participating school districts and additional logistics details.