The Service Tree lists all services in "branched" groups, starting with the very general and moving to the very specific. Click on the name of any group name to see the sub-groups available within it. Click on a service code to see its details and the providers who offer that service.
Emergency Food
Programs offered by senior centers or other community organizations, generally outside the food pantry network, that pack shopping bags (or other containers) with a supply of nutritional donated and surplus food for distribution to low-income individuals or families, students or older adults to supplement their meals at home.
Commodity Supplemental Food Program
A federally funded program that works to improve the health of elderly people age 60 and older who meet income eligibility requirements by supplementing their diets with nutritious USDA commodity foods. The program provides food and administrative funds to states, typically departments of health, social services, education or agriculture. The state agencies store CSFP food and distribute it to local public and private, nonprofit organizations that determine the eligibility of applicants, distribute the food, and provide nutrition education.
Community Fridges/Food Cabinets
Programs, often established informally, that provide and monitor the use of a refrigerator or storage cupboard in a public space in which anyone in the neighborhood can place food donations, or from which anyone can "take what you need, leave what you can" in the spirit of mutual aid. Donations of other necessities such as personal hygiene items may also be encouraged. Properly storing food is imperative to keeping it safe making it vital that someone is responsible for not only keeping the fridge or cabinet clean, but making sure fridges maintain proper temperature to ensure that the food does not spoil. In some areas, fridge set-ups may be in violation of local health codes, so those willing and able to launch a fridge operation are encouraged to check with the local health department before opening.
Programs that acquire food products through donations, canned food drives, food bank programs or direct purchase and distribute the food to people who are in emergency situations. Some pantries deliver food to people whose disabilities or illnesses make it difficult for them to leave home.
Programs that supply food coupons which can be exchanged in designated grocery stores, supermarkets and/or farmers markets for food products. The vouchers are generally provided to low income individuals and families on an occasional or ongoing basis, but may also be available to other specified populations; and may be issued in paper or electronic formats.
Programs sponsored in many communities by local food banks that distribute directly to clients who are unable to obtain adequate amounts of healthful food, particularly to people who live in low-income communities without reasonable access to a traditional food pantry as well as to college campuses where hunger among students is a growing problem. With the ability to travel, mobile food pantries can address food insecurity where it exists while finding homes for fresh, perishable food items including produce, grains, meat and dairy products before their shelf life expires and they go to waste. Mobile pantry agencies (generally churches or local nonprofits) may borrow an available parking lot, (e.g., a school's lot after hours), and after scheduling a mobile pantry distribution with their sponsoring food bank, they can leaflet the neighborhood or take other steps to announce to potential clients when and where the distribution will take place. When the truck carrying the food arrives, the host group's volunteers set up tables and load them with food. Clients may fill out short questionnaires or go through brief interviews, then walk around the truck like they would at a farmer's market and select the food they want to take home. When all of the clients have left, the volunteers load any leftovers back in the truck, leaving the parking lot as clean as it was when they arrived.
Programs that provide fresh or frozen lunches or dinners which are packed in portable containers and typically picked up and eaten elsewhere. Clients may include people who are homeless or low income, have a disability or illness or meet other eligibility criteria.
Programs that provide necessary food items that are not regularly or even typically available through most food pantries for people who are in emergency situations and unable to purchase the items at retail prices or have been unable to locate those items in their local stores. Included are programs that provide access to food and related products such as water and ice that are currently unavailable due to shortages precipitated by a fire, flood, hurricane, earthquake, tornado, ice storm, power outage or other disaster/emergency; and those which supply food that is required by people with special dietary needs, reflects a particular dietary and/or culinary preference or conforms to the dietary rules of a particular religion.