Don't Be Afraid of Food Banks

This blog kind of assumes that you are a low income person.

With that in mind, please accept this as a given and the absolute truth. There is nothing humiliating or embarrassing about going to a food bank. I have done that for a couple of years and always been treated with respect and as a regular human being; not as a bum, low life, cheater or criminal. Just go, you will find out.

The first step is to find out where the food banks are. If you are reading this I am sure you can Google it. I go to two once a month and another occasionally. They fall into the following categories. Those that are:

1. Associated with religion (not always a specific church). I have never experienced a person pushing me to pray, be born again, go to church or anything else. If they did that, I would leave.

2. Non-government organizations that are usually left leaning. Again, I have never been pushed about politics.

3. The U.S. government. This is done through the FDA nutrition commodities program.

All three types require a statement of income and a social security number. Upon completion of this step you will be given assistance immediately. However, some locations are only open on specific days. The Christian food bank I go to is only on Saturday morning and allows you to go once a month. The commodities program is done once a month on a specific day.

Here are two links:

Commodities: http://riley.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=11&tax_level=2&tax_subject=394&topic_id=1774&placement_default=0

My local Christian food bank is called Loaves and Fishes. They are non-denominational.