Good NestingWhat do many people turn to for food assistance when they find it hard to pay their bills? Programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Can they help take a load off by aiding you with feeding your family? Sure, but you will have to apply for them, and they are seen as solutions for the long term.
What are better food assistance options if you need help right now? Resources like food pantries, soup kitchens, and food banks that allow you to come in and get what you need without having to wait a long time.
How can you find such resources near you? We’ll discuss three websites that can help you achieve that goal.
1. Foodpantries.org
This website helps you pinpoint food pantries, food banks, soup kitchens, and food shelves in your area. You can quickly find what’s in your state by selecting it from the drop-down menu on the home page.
After selecting your state, you will see a breakdown of food pantries based on cities. As you’ll see, some cities have a lot more resources than others, so you may want to look in surrounding areas to widen your options.
Click on your city of choice, and you’ll get a list of the different food assistance resources in the area. You can visit each resource’s website, if they have one, or call them to see how they operate.
Whether it’s the Salvation Army, a food pantry, or a food bank, you should be able to find some help within minutes.
2. Feeding America
This site represents a network of over 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries from coast to coast. It’s a great way to find free food when you’re in a pinch, and the site is very easy to use.
Visit the home page, and you can enter your zip code to find local food banks. Once entered, you’ll see a list of food banks near that zip code, which you can click on to find out more information.
Beyond finding emergency food assistance, Feeding America can also help you find long-term nutritional help via SNAP, WIC, and several other programs. You can find such support on this page by scrolling to the bottom.
3. Ample Harvest
While this site was primarily put together to help gardeners find pantries where they can donate their produce, you can also find emergency food assistance.
Go here and enter your zip code. You can adjust the map radius to ensure you maximize your options. After entering your zip code, you’ll see a list of pantries, religious organizations, and more that offer food assistance.
Depending on where you live, your options could be substantial and quite close, so don’t hesitate to try this and the other sites on this list.
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