BASIC NEEDS
I can’t afford to feed my family.
In the United States, 1 in 9 individuals struggle with hunger. Many of us never imagined that we may become one of these 37,227,000 people, but sometimes our circumstances are out of our control. There is no shame asking for help so that you and your family can both survive and thrive. We invite you to check out these organizations to find local options to meet your family’s needs.
Feeding America
https://www.feedingamerica.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FeedingAmerica/
Phone: (800) 771-2303
Local Food Banks: http://feedingamerica.org/foodbank-results.aspx
The Feeding America network is the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, working to connect people with food and end hunger. Find your local food bank using Feeding America’s helpful food bank locator.
Food Pantries
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoodPantriesorg
Food Pantries is not associated with any government agency or nonprofit organization. We list Food Pantries centers throughout the US.
National School Lunch Program (NSCLP)
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day. Find out if your family qualifies. For more information about the NSLP, please contact the state agency responsible for the administration of the program in your state:
Contact your state’s NSLP agency: https://www.fns.usda.gov/schoolmeals/school-meals-contacts
Project Bread
Massachusetts
Hotline: (800) 645-8333
Text: (800) 377-1292
Email: info@projectbread.org
Information about SNAP, WIC, etc: http://www.projectbread.org/get-help/
Project Bread works to improve access to nutritious food for children and families. Their Food Source Hotline is 1-800-645-8333 and their comprehensive Food Resource Guide can be found on their website.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program
Eligibility: https://www.snap-step1.usda.gov/fns/
If eligible, the SNAP program will help pay your grocery bill so that you and your child can eat well while you attend school. To be eligible, students must be a single parent who has a child under age of 6 in the home. The applicant may not have over 2,000 in cash or bank account assets. Student loans do not count as assets.
To apply for SNAP, find your local office here: http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/outreach/map.htm
WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children)
https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/women-infants-and-children
How to apply: https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/wic-how-apply
Call your WIC state agency: https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/toll-free-numbers-wic-state-agencies
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.
No Kid Hungry
*SUMMER Program
https://www.nokidhungry.org/what-we-do/summer-meals
All across the country, schools and community groups run summer meals sites where kids can eat breakfast and lunch for free. No Kid Hungry helps local organizations launch and operate these sites, and we also help fund needed equipment like mobile meals trucks. But neighborhood meals sites aren't much good if families don't know about them. That's why No Kid Hungry runs a summer meals texting service. Parents, grandparents and caregivers can text ‘FOOD’ to 877-877 to find free summer meals sites in their neighborhoods.