Availability

St.Louis County, excluding the city of Duluth and surrounding area.

Program Description

 Meet Up and Chow Down is United Way of Northeastern Minnesota's free summer lunch program for children on the Iron Range.  The program was piloted in 2016 in Chisholm; 1,680 meals were served.  Over the summer of 2022, 12,023 Meet Up and Chow Down lunches were served at nine sites in Chisholm, Cook, Hibbing, Mt. Iron, Nashwauk, and Virginia. The program is provided through support from the USDA and Minnesota Department of Education's Summer Food Service Program. In 2023, the program has expanded to offer lunches in 13 sites across the region.

Eligibility

Children up to age 18.

Important Reminder

Federal and state government guidelines require that children must eat Meet Up and Chow Down lunches on-site. Volunteers are not able to hand out meals to children to take off-site. Lunches for this program are provided entirely with funding from the USDA and Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)’s Summer Food Program. USDA and MDE require that meals be eaten on-site; UWNEMN would not receive funding to provide these meals if this requirement was not followed. While we empathize with the frustration surrounding this re-instated requirement, we hope this provides some context and understanding. Furthermore, we ask families to remember to be kind to the volunteers who are giving of their limited summer hours to hand out these meals out of the goodness of their hearts and care for our local children. They do not make the rules for the program; nor do we.

Volunteer

To get involved, see the list of current volunteer needs for each location here. https://unitedwaynemn.org/meet-up-chow-down

Contact

United Way of Northeastern Minnesota
218.254-3329

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