Food shelf with produce and coolers

Update to the Community: Food Resources

by Alison Griffin
Sep 2, 2020

These sustained tough times have challenged our sense of what we can control including, for many of us, our ability to fill our fridges and make rent. For folks who struggled to make ends meet pre-COVID, times are even tougher. I in 8 of us now lives with hunger as we enter the sixth month of the greatest health and economic crisis of our time.

Our September 2 update to the community served as a recognition of all that it takes to seek out help and as a roadmap for finding meals in a way that works best for whoever needs it. Community partners from Prairie Five Community Action and Pillsbury United Communities joined leaders from Second Harvest Heartland to describe the more than 800 food assistance resources that exist in every corner of the state, whether help with food is needed immediately or in the days and weeks to come.

“It’s about knowing what tools are in your toolbox when it comes to food resources,” explained Theresa McCormick, Director of Programs at Second Harvest Heartland. Tools like:

  • Your local food shelf
  • Prepared to-go meals
  • Produce distributions
  • Emergency grocery pop-ups
  • Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
  • Free Meals for Kids App
  • Fare For All
  • SNAP (formerly Food Stamps)
  • Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP)
  • School meals—free and reduced-price meals
  • Woman and Infant Children (WIC)

Discover the food resources in your neighborhood and watch the full community update video here: