What is SUN Bucks?

SUN Bucks is a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) program that provides grocery-buying benefits in a one-time payment per summer of $120 per eligible child on a debit-like card that can be used to buy nutritious food during the summer months when schools are out.

The SUN Bucks application for 2025 in North Carolina has closed. Continue to monitor https://www.ncdhhs.gov/sunbucks for more information about SUN Bucks in 2026. 

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Who is Eligible to Receive SUN Bucks?

Many North Carolina children who are eligible for SUN Bucks will receive them without needing to complete a SUN Bucks application. 

If your child is enrolled in a NSLP school for the 2025-2026 school year and meets one of the scenarios below, they are automatically eligible for SUN Bucks and do not need to submit an application:  

• Child completed a SUN Bucks application between July 1, 2025 – August 31, 2025, and was approved. You do not need to complete another application for summer 2026, so long as the child is still enrolled in a NSLP/CEP participating school.
• Your child gets Free or Reduced-Price meals through the child’s school.
  • Important: This does not apply for children in schools where all students get free meals (CEP schools); however, they could be automatically eligible if they participate in any of the programs listed in the section below (any age).

OR

If your child’s date of birth is between July 2, 2008 to August 31, 2019, and they participate in at least one of the programs below, they do not need to submit an application as they are automatically eligible to receive SUN Bucks:

• Food and Nutrition Services (FNS, food stamps), or
• Work First (cash assistance), or  
• Medicaid and has a household income of less than 185% of the federal poverty level, or
• Cherokee Tribal Food Distribution Program (CTFDP), or
• Child is in Foster Care, or
• Child is enrolled in the McKinney-Vento program (experiencing homelessness or runaway)

Households can apply if their children attend a National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) school and will need to:

• Check your child’s school. Use the SUN Bucks School Search Tool to see if your child’s school is part of NSLP or CEP. This may impact your child’s eligibility. 

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