Local food cart owners who literally make their “bread and butter” through serving others are reaching out to those who need it most with the Let’s Eat Out! initiative.

The coalition of 27 carts, known as Let’s Eat Out!, will bring not only food, but also education and even a multiday concert series to an assortment of neighborhoods over the course of the summer, Christine Ameigh, founder and executive director of Let’s Eat Out!, said. Ameigh also owns the Slide food cart.

Some of the neighborhoods, including parts of Meadowood, Allied Drive, Park Street and Rimrock Road, are experiencing a mix of low income and a scarcity of food suppliers, making the presence of the carts somewhat of a novelty, Ameigh said.

“Every night of the week we’ll be in one of those neighborhoods,” Ameigh said. “And it’s all about making sure we can provide meal subsidies.”

Let’s Eat Out! has received a grant from the city and has been conducting an online fundraising campaign to keep the food sold in the four low-income neighborhoods at an affordable price over the 64-dinner run of the summer program.

Ameigh said Let’s Eat Out! emerged from a city Parks Division program called Meet & Eat, which she described as “hit or miss.”

“They were successful on some nights, but not on others,” Ameigh said. “Food carts have a vested interest in making it successful because we can’t go out if it’s not worth our while.”

The food cart owners observed the Meet & Eat program before gradually taking control of it with the assistance of the city, Ameigh said.

While Let’s Eat Out! has been running since 2012, membership is at its all-time high and the organization is working to set a more ambitious, community-building agenda.

Let’s Eat Out! has potential benefits to the community that are still being developed, Ald. Maurice Cheeks, District 10, said. District 10 experiences some food scarcity, especially in the Allied Drive area, and could benefit from the Let’s Eat Out! summer program, he said.

“It’s really cool to see these companies that make their bread and butter on the downtown business crowd acknowledging that they have a unique capability to bring food to neighborhoods that have scarce access to it,” Cheeks said. “Even though it’s not a permanent solution, I think it’s great.”

For carts that are members of Let’s Eat Out!’s program, including Banzo, Fried & Fabulous, SOHO and other familiar student favorites, there are certain benefits that come at the cost of membership fees.

These include the marketing boost that comes with associational ties, access to special block party events, discounts for locally-sourced produce and the chance to be an exclusive vendor for both the MadCity Bazaar, an “urban pop-up flea market,” and for the upcoming concert series, Ameigh said.

The series is slated to take place at Madison’s Burr Jones Field across the three Sundays from June 21 through July 5.

The concerts will provide a way to build recognition for the program as well as another exclusive business opportunity for the carts that make up its membership, Ameigh said.

“I expect the neighbors will enjoy it, just as folks across the city enjoy it when the food carts make their way across the downtown,” Cheeks said.