$17 million in food aid for families went unspent in Arizona last year

Last summer, more than $17 million in food aid to help Arizona families buy groceries while school meals were unavailable — went unused.

This year, there’s still time for families who already have a SUN Bucks card to access the aid, and advocates watching the program are urging those families to use the money before it expires on Oct. 1.

But with fewer families on federal food aid this summer, it’s likely that fewer children immediately qualified, leaving their parents to figure out how to apply.

“There is money out there, it’s for you,” said public policy consultant David Rubel, who has been tracking unused summer food aid money across the country. “It’s already been issued, but you need to call the state.”

The program is called SUN Bucks, or the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program (Summer EBT), and provides a set amount of grocery dollars to families with children to use during the summer when free school meals are unavailable.

This summer, the third year of the program in Arizona, about 604,000 children who would usually qualify for free or reduced lunch during the school year were eligible for $72.5 million that their families could spend over 122 days.

How those families accessed the card is where the program becomes more complicated. There are two paths to receive the aid.

Students are automatically enrolled if they qualify for free lunch at school; are homeless or in foster care; if their families received SNAP; or they are covered by Medicaid. If they have a SNAP card, the benefits will be loaded there.

Families who don’t meet the criteria above must apply for SUN Bucks. This year, the application deadline was Aug. 3, 2026. First-time applicants are mailed a new card. Returning applicants are not mailed a new card — they’re expected to reuse the card from a prior year, and can get a new one only if they apply for a replacement.

That creates a risk that families who no longer have last year’s card, or who don’t realize they must reapply annually might miss out on the money. Families who have moved must also notify the state or their card will be sent to the old address.

Families have 122 days to use the money from when the card is issued, which for most families is the first week of October.

In Arizona, the program is run by the Arizona Department of Education. The agency did not respond to a request for comment on the program by deadline.

Local school districts help get the word out: Tucson Unified School District notifies families via direct notifications, the district parent email and social media. “We also do targeted notifications to eligible households,” district spokesperson Karla Escamilla said.

Last year, 22% of the money allotted for Arizona families to use through SUN Bucks was unspent. That’s slightly higher than the average of the 20 states surveyed by policy consultant Rubel, which found that on average 18% of the money went unused.

A steep drop in Arizona food assistance

“I go to sleep thinking about what are we going to have,” Dee McDonald, an Arizona resident who feeds her three teenage grandsons, and lost federal food aid benefits, told The New York Times. “I’m exhausted.”

Arizona has seen a steep drop in the number of people receiving federal food assistance since the passage of a law championed by the Trump administration to limit who could qualify for support. In Pima County, there was a 44% drop in the number of households who qualified for SNAP.

What families can do next year

Arizona families can check if they qualify for SUN Bucks on the Arizona Department of Education website, and apply or request a replacement card by calling the SUN Bucks Hotline at 1-833-648-4406. Read more on the Department of Education’s website.

No Kid Hungry, a national nonprofit, is gathering feedback from families about SUN Bucks communication. Families can email skersten@strength.org to weigh in on their experience with the program.

Teresa Hensley, communications director at the Arizona Food Bank Network, said regional food banks have seen an increase in need as that happened. In 2024, food banks in Arizona served about 625,000 people — that number is now 850,000.

“The increase in need has been dramatic, and with fuel prices and grocery prices, food banks are spending more funds than ever trying to keep up with demand because donations aren’t keeping pace. Hunger is on the rise nationally,” she said.

SUN Bucks are part of the equation to tackle that issue.

This year, the Arizona Food Bank took over the role of hosting the website for the SUN Bucks program. The organization ran ad campaigns on social media and Google. The webpage had over 57,500 users this summer, compared to 25,000 last year.

“SUN Bucks fills a gap for families while the heat raises electricity costs and kids are out of school,” said Teresa Hensley, communications director at the Arizona Food Bank Network. “Programs like this help shorten the lines at food banks, which is essential in times of greater need.”

By the end of August, SUN Bucks had reached 593,563 kids, Hensley said.

TUSD offers free school meals to all students through a program that is based on the percentage of students that automatically qualify for free meals through SNAP benefits, Medicaid income qualification or federal homelessness. About 63% of TUSD students automatically qualified for free school meals before the SNAP cuts — this year, the district has seen a 20% decrease in the percentage of students that automatically qualify.

On top of its work offering free and reduced lunch for students during school days, TUSD said it also has four family resource centers with food pantries for families in need, and some individual schools run food pantries supported by community organizations.

How Arizona compares with other states

Rubel sent a public records request Jan. 9, 2026 asking the Arizona Department of Economic Security how many $120 payment applications for SUN Bucks were received, how many payments were issued, and how many payments were not used.

In its response, the agency gave insight into the summer 2025 food aid need across the state:

Arizona Department of Economic Security (ADES) issued a total of $77,631,960 in Summer EBT benefits in 2025
646,933 individual child payments of $120 were available to families
$60.4 million was spent by families
$17,213,640 in individual payments were not used within the 122 days after they were issued — or 22% of the payments
143,447 eligible children did not access Summer EBT dollars in 2025

Rubel said he believed the 22% who did not access their SUN Bucks payments included families who didn’t keep their card from last year or had an old address on file.

His research also found there was a drop in applications from the 4,926 families who applied in 2024 to the 2,345 who applied in 2025. “These families will have to reapply in 2026,” he said.