Growing Futures Along Country Roads in Garrett County, Maryland

Overview

Given their rural service area, Garrett County FNS has found their summer meals service to be much more effective operating as a mobile program that meets children where they are, instead of asking children and their families to cross long distances to get to a limited number of summer meals sites. When choosing the best sites for their mobile operations, FNS has come to recognize the importance of flexibility and finding ways to adjust meal service locations to maximize the number of children who can participate. Over the years, FNS has occasionally found that a site is not reaching the volume of kids they anticipated. However, FNS has always been able to find alternative sites nearby so that they can reach as many children as possible. This troubleshooting involves patience, flexibility, and communicating with both community partners and families who utilize the program to make necessary adjustments.

Garrett County Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) in rural Maryland uses mobile trailers to deliver summer lunch to 14 sites across the county. Learn about how Garrett County FNS increased their number of meals served by 85% from 2012 to 2018 by implementing a mobile solution.'