A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center is a place where food is offered to the hungry usually for no price, or sometimes at a below-market price. Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoods, soup kitchens are often staffed by volunteer organizations, such as church or community groups. Soup kitchens sometimes obtain food from a food bank for free or at a low price, because they are considered a charity, which makes it easier for them to feed the many people who require their services.
The Hunger Site is the original click-to-donate site created in 1999 that gets sponsorship from advertisers in return for delivering users who will see their advertisements. The Hunger site encourages visitors to click a button on the site, once per day, asserting that each unique click results in a donation "equivalent" to 1.1 cups of food. The Hunger Site is not a charity; it is a for-profit corporation which donates the revenue from its advertising banner to selected charities. Currently, these are Millennium Promise, Food Recovery Network, Partners in Health, Feeding America and Mercy Corps.
A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food directly with their food pantries.
Feeding America is a United States–based non-profit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. Forbes ranks it as the largest U.S. charity by revenue. Feeding America was known as America's Second Harvest until August 31, 2008.
Connecticut Foodshare is a nonprofit organization based in Wallingford, Connecticut. It serves as the sole food bank for all of Connecticut.
The Arkansas Foodbank is a non-profit food bank located in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Arkansas Foodbank distributed more than 20.9 million pounds of food and grocery products to its member agencies for Arkansans in need in 2013, according to chief executive officer, Rhonda Sanders.
The Houston Food Bank (HFB) is a non-profit organization and the nation's largest food bank by distribution; providing access to 207 million nutritious meals in 18 counties in southeast Texas. The food bank's operations are made possible through a network of 1,800 community partners alongside their partner food banks in Montgomery County, Galveston and Brazos Valley. Headed by its current President and CEO, Brian Greene, the Houston Food Bank is a member organization of Feeding America, with a four-star rating from Charity Navigator. The Houston Food Bank, which bares the mission statement of Food for Better Lives, continues to be acknowledged for its community impact. Notable recognitions include Food bank of the Year in 2015, presented by Feeding America and the Pinnacle winner in 2012 and 2014, presented by the Better Business Bureau.
Food rescue, also called food recovery, food salvage or surplus food redistribution, is the practice of gleaning edible food that would otherwise go to waste from places such as farms, produce markets, grocery stores, restaurants, or dining facilities and distributing it to local emergency food programs.
Food Bank For New York City is a non-profit social services organization and the major hunger-relief organization working against hunger in the five boroughs. Its aim is to organize food, information and support for needy citizens of New York City.
The Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD) is a nonprofit organization that fights hunger throughout Cook County, Illinois. The GCFD distributes donated and purchased food through a network of 700 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and community programs, serving more than 800,000 adults and children every year. In fiscal year 2016, the GCFD distributed more than 70 million pounds of nonperishable food, produce, dairy products, and meat - the equivalent of more than 160,000 meals every day. Of the $96,883,955 spent in 2016, over 90% went to direct food distribution programs.
The Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger (GPCAH) is a support organization for residents in the Greater Philadelphia region founded in 1996. Its mission is connecting people with food assistance programs including, SNAP benefits, food banks, soup kitchens and "to build a community where all people have the food they need to lead healthy lives".
Philabundance is a non-profit food bank that serves the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley regions of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the largest such organization in the region. The organization stated goal is to end hunger in its communities.
The Alameda County Community Food Bank is a non-profit organization that supplies food to 400+ Alameda County, California agencies including food pantries, soup kitchens, child-care and senior centers, and after-school programs, provides an emergency food helpline, teaches nutrition and hunger education, and conducts outreach about California's food stamps program CalFresh. Located in Oakland, California, the food bank distributes enough food for 300,000 meals weekly. Almost 50% of the food supply consists of fresh produce from California farms. The organization is a member of the California Association of Food Banks, Feeding America, and the California Hunger Action Coalition. Their headquarters are at 7900 Edgewater Drive, next door to Oikos University. The food bank is in the former location of the book distributor Bookpeople.
Food Donation Connection (FDC), LLC headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, is a privately owned American company facilitating the donation process between restaurants/food service companies with surplus food and local social service agencies that distribute food to those in need. FDC's primary goal is to redirect prepared food that would otherwise be discarded towards feeding individuals facing hunger.
Second Harvest North Florida (SHNF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Jacksonville, Florida, that performs food rescue and redistribution to partner agencies in one quarter of Florida's 67 counties. The charitable organization has been active for over 30 years.
St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance is a nonprofit, nonsectarian organization located in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1967 by John van Hengel, St. Mary's was the first modern organization to operate using the food bank model, which spread throughout U.S. and the rest of the world. Today, St. Mary's is recognized as the world's first food bank.
A Gift of Bread van named "Spirit of Hope"
U.S. President George W. Bush visits the Capital Area Food Bank's Washington warehouse in 2002.
