What RWN offers today: a public directory of free essential services. This website does not accept donations or personal requests, and it does not offer accounts, volunteer registration, or case management.
1. What the directory does
RWN helps people find essential services, read practical access information, visit the original source, and open directions. Search, filters, saved services, location sorting, sharing, printing, and downloads work in your browser.
RWN does not provide the listed services, make eligibility decisions, reserve space, or provide emergency response. A listing also cannot guarantee that a service will be available when you arrive.
2. Understanding our coverage
The main directory and current government data are counted separately. On August 5, 2026, the USDA data included 17,442 active summer meal sites, including 637 in Massachusetts. After a U.S. location search, the site shows up to the 300 closest current sites so the map remains usable.
Coverage is not even across countries. Some markers show a place a person can visit. Others open an official resource finder or represent a network serving a wider area. These numbers describe the directory; they are not a claim about how many people RWN has helped.
Coverage gap: absence from RWN does not mean help is unavailable. The directory is incomplete by design while records are added and reviewed source by source.
3. Downloading the directory
You can use the complete directory without the 3D globe. The files below contain public service information, map locations, source links, and the dates we checked them. They do not contain visitor information. Seasonal records stay with the public agency that maintains them and appear only for their published dates.
If you reuse the data, keep the original source and review date with each record. Check the source again before presenting hours, eligibility, or availability as current.
4. Inspecting a release
RWN publishes the data needed to inspect what a website release contains. The public resource export contains the reviewed directory records, the source registry identifies the source families and refresh models used by the site, and release metadata describes the generated catalog release. The CSV export provides the same directory in a spreadsheet-friendly form.
These files let a reviewer compare what the interface says with the records behind it. RWN’s automated release checks also reject broken internal links, malformed generated pages, invalid structured data, missing canonical URLs, duplicate IDs, invalid coordinates, unsupported free-access claims, and source-backed records that fail required fields.
“Checked” has a narrow meaning. It means the record was reviewed against the cited source according to RWN’s publishing rules on the displayed review date. It does not mean RWN called the provider that day, guarantees availability, independently audited the organization, or certifies that every detail remains unchanged after the source check.
5. How listings are checked
Before publication, every listing must identify the service, the place or area served, the type of help, how to access it, whether eligibility applies, why it qualifies as free, the original source, and the date checked.
Automated checks catch duplicate records, invalid map points, repeated categories, missing cost information, unsafe links, missing fields, and invalid dates. A person still has to review what the original source actually says.
Read How we check listings for our source priorities, inclusion rules, location standards, and correction process.
6. Privacy, low-connectivity access, and accessibility
You do not need an account to use RWN. The site does not use advertising trackers, marketing cookies, third-party analytics software, a personal case form, or a donation processor. If you choose location, exact coordinates stay on your device. For U.S. summer meal results, the USDA receives only an approximate search area. See the Privacy Notice.
Supported browsers can keep the public text-directory shell and static search index on the device so the directory can reopen after a connection drops. Search words and RWN API requests are not stored in that offline cache, and users can clear the cache from the finder or browser site-data controls.
The 3D globe is optional. The text directory includes every listing without requiring WebGL or application JavaScript. We are working toward WCAG 2.2 Level AA, but we do not claim formal conformance. See the Accessibility Statement.
7. Organization status
RWN has not yet published a verified legal entity name, charitable or nonprofit registration, board, public contact address, financial reports, or safeguarding contact. We will add organizational information only after it can be confirmed.
Until then, this site does not claim registered charity or nonprofit status, accept donations, or collect personal case information. It also does not publish names, registration numbers, partnerships, impact figures, or reports that have not been verified.
Before RWN accepts money or personal requests: the organization will need verified legal and contact information, responsible leadership, safeguarding and complaints procedures, approved public policies, and appropriate financial controls.
8. Website and map sources
RWN is a static website hosted by Vercel. The directory works without an RWN account or database. Each release is checked for data errors, broken builds, generated-page integrity, privacy boundaries, and basic security protections. Real Chromium tests exercise the globe, text-directory search, mobile layouts, service landing pages, and low-connectivity behavior before release.
The globe uses NASA Blue Marble imagery and Natural Earth country shapes. A simpler boundary map loads first, followed by more detailed 1:10m boundaries when you zoom in. These borders are generalized map data. They should not be used for legal, political, or navigation decisions.
Map and imagery sources: Natural Earth and NASA Blue Marble.