Charlotte nonprofits brace for summer hunger surge
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Volunteers line up outside the Nourish Up warehouse to delivery groceries Tuesday morning. Photo: McKenzie Rankin/Axios
Food insecurity is usually top-of-mind toward the end of the year around Thanksgiving, but local nonprofits are preparing for a July spike.
Why it matters: With school out for the summer, families with students who typically receive free meals at school grapple with higher grocery bills, in addition to child care and often higher utility bills due to summer heat,
What they're saying: "Hunger doesn't take a vacation," Nourish Up CEO Tina Postel tells Axios.
State of play: Nourish Up, the nonprofit that distributes groceries and meals to people across Mecklenburg County, serves around 12,000 people across Mecklenburg County per month.
By the numbers: Almost half of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' students receive free meals, which is around 68,000 students.
- The district does provide breakfast and lunch at various schools across the summer, but that requires being able to get to the school, which for some families isn't feasible.
Flashback: Last November, local food banks and other nonprofits scrambled to meet the overwhelming demand brought on by the federal government shutdown, frozen SNAP benefits and the Border Patrol's Operation Charlotte's Web.
- Even prior to the additional need these events brought, Nourish Up was on track to serve a record-breaking number of people.
- Nourish Up provided groceries to more than 169,000 people in 2025.
What we're watching: SNAP benefits aren't frozen, but qualifying for them has become increasingly difficult since the Big Beautiful Bill was passed. Changes went into effect earlier this year.
- North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson and nearly two dozen other state attorneys general are asking Congress to restore now curtailed SNAP benefits and eligibility in the Farm Bill.
- For everyone one person Nourish UP feeds, SNAP benefits usually feed nine other people, Postel says.
Zoom out: Nourish Up's biggest area of need is delivery drivers for their 75 Meals on Wheels routes (Monday through Friday) and 50 routes for their home grocery delivery program (Tuesday through Saturday).