Summer Feeding Program 2014 in Toledo and Beyond

The great organization Feed Lucas County Children announced their summer feeding schedule in the Toledo area for 2014 this week.  This is part of a federal program that allows kids too poor to get food (who would be covered with the school lunch program from September through May) to get a nourishing meal. To find the nearest location near you, call 419 720 1106.

If you are not in the Toledo area, there's a toll-free hotline to find the summer feeding program provider near you: 1-866-3 - HUNGRY (348-6479) or 1-877-8-HAMBRE (in Spanish).  Or use this website created by WhyHunger. 

Finding Meals for Seniors, Delivered or Congregated.

For all the links we provide every year with information about Thanksgiving meals, there is usually very little about meals that are delivered.  In the Toledo area, only the Augsburg Lutheran Church does Thanksgiving meal delivery.  Where can you find about meals delivered to senior citizens (where the mobility to get to meals is often a real issue)? 

To find a low-cost meal delivery organization in your area, or a congregant place (a place where seniors can gather to enjoy a meal together, such as a senior center), check out the website of the Meals on Wheels Association of America.   The locator page allows you to put in a zip code and get a meal provider directory, listed in order of distance from the zip code, from the closest to the farthest. It doesn't tell much about their operations, or even provide a link to an organization's website, but they do give you a lead and contact information. 

Summer Feeding Programs in Toledo 2013 and Elsewhere

Feed Lucas County Children has announced the where and whens of its 2013 summer feeding program in Lucas County.   It's meant to be a summer stand-in for the school lunch program for low-income young people.  For more information or to find your nearest site, call 419-720-1106. 

Also, Toledo Public Schools will offer what the Toledo Blade called a "hodgepodge" of programs through the school district.  Many of their summer learning programs will include a free lunch.  It includes enrichment programs, high school programs to make up credit (not a free program), and other learning opportunities.  However, there will also be feeding programs for all children at East Broadway, Larchmont, Marshall, Sherman and Westfield Elementary Schools and Bowsher, Rogers, Scott, Start, Waite and Woodward High Schools.  For more information, call 211.

If you live outside Toledo, remember that the federal government funds summer feeding programs throughout the country, though the federal funding sequester is cutting in.  To find a program near you, call 1-866-3-HUNGRY or 1-877-8-HAMBRE (for Spanish speakers), or check this interactive site. 

Double Up on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables in Michigan and Toledo Area

This blog discussed how the elderly and children could buy to more fresh fruits and vegetables.  Here's how SNAP recipients in Michigan and the Toledo, Ohio area can double up on their fruits and veggies through October.  It's through a program called Double Up Food Bucks, both in Michigan and metro Toledo.

Here's how it works: go to a participating farmer's market, and see the Double Up booth with your Michigan Bridge card, or Ohio Direction card with your tokens.  You can get up to $20 in Double Up tokens, to double your ability to purchase fresh items at the market.  It's only good for fresh products grown in the state, and good from May through October.  Here's the Michigan markets that are participating, and here's the ones in Toledo. 
 .

New Source of Food Pantries

Access to food is an everyday problem in what Paul Krugman calls the Lesser Depression, and it happens to people for whom poverty is a new thing.  So it may be helpful to find a place to locate food pantries and soup kitchens across the U.S. Foodpantries.org may not be exhaustive, but it could help you find one near you.  It has a state and zip code search feature, but the zip code is problematic.  I put in mine, and it did indeed find the big Toledo ones (but not all of them), but it put them in haphazard order, with some from Flint and Detroit higher up the list!  So if you use the zip code feature, check out the WHOLE list, and don't be discouraged if you see some far-flung ones listed first.  Overall, they claim over 1800 agencies in the US.  Another is find a food pantry.  Check them both.

But, as I said, the list is self-reporting, so I'm sure they will miss some smaller ones.  If you have a 211 service in your town, call that number to see what they have listed.  Remember, too, that some pantries only take referrals, so contact a social service agency in your town to be sure.  And if you are doing o.k. and live in these towns, the directory could give you some ideas about a place to contribute or volunteer.

Finding Summer Food Programs for Kids

School lunch programs end when the school year does, but the need for food goes on into vacation. In response to this, there is a summer feeding program, which funds lunch, breakfast and snack programs for children around the country. In theory, everyone should have access to food through this, but practically speaking, some people have more access than others. The US Department of Agriculture funds a summer feeding program and states distribute the funds, but they need local sponsors and places that are willing to be feeding sites. So some places have lots of coverage, and some have few or no feeding places. How can you find them if you need to?


If you’re in Lucas County, Ohio (covering Toledo), it’s a snap: go the Feed Lucas County Children’s summer feeding website with the full schedule of locations and times. Outside of that in Ohio, it gets tougher: the Ohio Department of Education has a site that is searchable by county. Senator Sherrod Brown also has a list of summer feeding sponsors in Ohio, and you could contact them for times and places. If you live in other states, there are a couple of routes you could take to investigate feeding sites near you. One is to check the agency in your state that is responsible for the summer feeding program, and see if they have a list. Or you could call the Hunger Hotline at 1-866-348-6479 and see if they know of any sites near you. Another possibility is to avail yourself of a 211 information and referral program if you live in an area that is covered by one.

Help if You Are On The Move, For Whatever Reason

From what I can glean from patrons at the Toledo Public Library, some homeless people are heading off to warmer climates. Can you blame them? If I had to live outside, it wouldn’t be here in our subfreezing cold. But where do you find resources to move to a strange town, and find out where you might stay, food to eat, and more? What if your move has been caused by some dislocation—fire, domestic violence, etc? Where do you get information?

The oldest organization is Travelers Aid, a string of agencies across the country whose mission is: “To advance and support a network of human service provider organizations committed to assisting individuals and families who are in transition, or crisis, and are disconnected from their support systems.” The central office doesn’t provide any direct help, but you can find their affiliates on their site.

There are several online places to look for shelter. One is to check out a locale and see if it has a 211 service—a phone service whereby if you dial 211, you find out about social services like housing and food. You can also try the Homeless Shelter Directory, which has a list of shelters that have registered with them, though it’s not exhaustive.

The Homeless Shelter Directory also has a listing for food pantries and food banks, as does this listing from Feed America. Food banks usually don’t deal directly with individuals who need help, but they can tell you who their clients are, and the Homeless Shelter Directory does have a few soup kitchens on its list. Again, if your destination city has a 211 database, use it for a more complete list.

Free Fresh Fruits and Vegetables for the Elderly and Young Children

Most people know about food stamps, a program to help low-income people buy food. There is also a program to help low-income seniors and families with small children and pregnant women buy fresh food from farmer’s markets and roadside stands. It’s the Senior Farmer’s Market Nutritional Program and the WIC (Women Infants and Children) Farmer's Market program.


Both are for people within 185% of the poverty level (in 2010, that’s about $20,000 for a household of one, or about $40,000 for a household of 4). These are the income guidelines. The senior program is for people 60 or older, and WIC is for pregnant or postpartum women (who have just given birth), and children up to five years old. They are available in 42 states, DC, some territories, and several Indian agencies.

People in these programs are given coupons that can be used to buy fresh, unprocessed fruits, vegetables, and herbs at certified roadside stands, farmer’s markets or agricultural programs. For a full list of markets, contact the agency in charge in your state.  For more information on this part of the WIC program and more food help for pregnant women and young children, call the toll-free number in your state.

A Roundup of Every Kind of Emergency Financial Help I Can Think Of…(Money for the Needy)

You will read a lot of nonsense on the internet about emergency grants for needy individuals. Most of it is hogwash. You will click links that you think will be helpful, and they will point you to books that cost $39, $99, or some other silly amount of money. Don’t buy them. Trust me, they will rip you off. And if you see an ad for a free seminar somewhere in a hotel room, run away as fast as your legs can carry you. 

The problem is, we are in a depression/recession, and politicians are afraid of spending a penny for an increasingly desperate nation with lots of poor people. Unless, of course, you are a defense contractor, or a millionaire who is terrified that your taxes might go up. Then our politicians can’t wait to come to your rescue.  Enough of my rant. The following is my total rundown of all I know right now about emergency financial help, anywhere in the country. And I swear it won’t cost you a single penny. Here goes:

• Try 211. Many areas of the country have a 2-1-1 phone number that can be dialed for help in finding emergency housing, food, power, etc. Check this link to see if you are covered by 211.
• You can locate food banks close to your home by entering your zip code in this site by Feeding America.  For more food assistance, here's more from Feeding America.
• Try your county human services office. This is called by different names, depending on your state. In Ohio, it’s Jobs and Family Services. It was once the old Welfare Department in most places, now it's often called Family Services or Human Services. Here's the state contacts--they can tell you how to get in touch with the county people.  Despite the crap you read on internet sites, it is still the place that has the most funds for individuals. THIS is where you apply for TANF money, NOT directly from the federal government.  Please contact them if you have children, since many funds and programs are designed to support families with minor children.
• WIC is a program to insure that minor children and pregnant women have food. Find the toll-free contact number for each state here.
• If you are in need of medical care, try the federal site for your insurance options. Here’s the list of free and low cost clinics around the country. For people with no insurance, here’s a link to find out if you are eligible for free prescription drugs from the manufacturers.
• Are you a veteran? Try your county veterans’ office, (find it with this link). It’s the first line of emergency help for veterans.  Also, try this really good link from the Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
• Are you eligible for benefits like food stamps or other financial help? In several states, you can see this website, or dial this number to find a place where a trained counselor can help you find cash benefits that you are eligible for (if you are disabled, they will come to your house and work with you). Or try this link to find websites where you can check your own eligibility for benefits.
• Do you need help with your heating and energy bills? Check this website to find your state energy aid office. If worse comes to worst, here’s the rundown of shutoff laws in each state—circumstances in which they can’t shut off your power.
• Don’t count out local churches and church charities and social agencies. They often help people who are not of their faith. Some big ones to consider are the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, Jewish Family Services or Charities, and Lutheran Social Services.  Click the links to find a local office.