A number of food banks, soup kitchens for hot meals and free emergency food pantries in Stamford, Connecticut distribute groceries to individuals or families who are in some form of an emergency situation.
There are also meals, free bags of food, personal toiletries and household goods for low to moderate income families from food pantries near you.
Distribution centers can include churches, non-profit organizations, community action agencies, and many other local charities as well as non-profits.
Salvation Army Food Pantry
The Salvation Army is dedicated to eliminating food insecurity.
The Salvation Army operates free local food banks around Stamford, Connecticut from almost all of their local social service centers. The charity organization is involved in feeding millions of families each year, with a large percentage of those assisted being children as well as the elderly.
We have located 1 Salvation Army Food Pantry locations in Stamford, Connecticut which provides a wide array of services. We have partnered so you can also check your eligibility.
The Salvation Army - Stamford Corps
Services provided :
- Boys' & Girls' Club
- Community Recreation & Education Programs
- Disaster Services
- Emergency Financial Assistance
- Food & Nutrition
- Food & Nutrition Programs
- Residential Camping Activities
- Seasonal Services
- Worship Services - Church
Appointments :
You can privately and easily book your appointment online for select services 24/7. For the full set of services, you can call (203) 359-2320 to book your appointment.
Address :
198 Selleck St,
Stamford, CT 06902.
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Help Residents of Counties:
- Fairfield
Church Food Pantry
A number of churches around Stamford, Connecticut have food pantries for those in their neighborhoods who are in need of food items.
Churches operate with food donations gathered and deliver to the food pantry nearest you by individuals using food drives.
Some churches also deliver food items to elderly who are unable to drive to a nearest community food pantry. Please contact your local church directly.
We have located 1 Church Food Pantry locations in Stamford, Connecticut which provides a wide array of services. We have partnered so you can also check your eligibility.
Faith Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church - Food Pantry
The food pantry operates weekly distributing supplemental food to a diverse population of approximately 300 clients who are low to moderate income based on the Standard Metro Statistical Area (SMSA).
Services provided :
- food pantry
Appointments :
You can privately and easily book your appointment online for select services 24/7. For the full set of services, you can call (203) 348-8755 to book your appointment.
Address :
29 Grove St,
Stamford, CT 06901.
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Help Residents of Cities:
- Stamford
Help Residents of Counties:
- Fairfield
Catholic Charities Food Pantry
Resources provided by the Catholic Charity organization focus on addressing food, holiday, and immigration needs.
Families of all religions, backgrounds, and cultures can contact Catholic Charity centers for help.
Catholic Charities in Stamford, Connecticut are open to families on a first-come, first-serve basis. The centers operate during normal business hours, and provide walk-ins with groceries, food boxes, and items to prepare a meal.
The food pantries are like grocery stores, allow clients the ability to choose the items they need from the groceries that are available on site.
First-time clients of the food pantry will need to apply, and this is done from a one-page application. An applicant will need to provide basic household member as well as demographic information.
We have located 0 Catholic Charities Food Pantry locations in Stamford, Connecticut which provides a wide array of services. We have partnered so you can also check your eligibility.
Helping Hands Food Pantry
Helping Hands is a faith-based 501(c)(3) food pantry operated around Stamford, Connecticut almost entirely by volunteers.
It provides a 7-day supply of groceries and personal care items free of charge to people in need, regardless of their religious beliefs.
Helping Hands is supported entirely by donations from individuals, service organizations, churches, and businesses in our community.
Find a local helping hands food pantry open near you.
We have located 0 Helping Hand Food Pantry locations in Stamford, Connecticut which provides a wide array of services. We have partnered so you can also check your eligibility.
Mobile Food Pantry
The mobile food pantry program distributes food directly to families in communities around Stamford, Connecticut in need during large-scale one-day distributions.
A typical mobile pantry serves 200-250 families distributing up to 10,000 pounds of food. This past year over 6.6 million pounds were distributed through this program.
Mobile food pantries usually visit churches, community centers, schools, shopping centers, and other convenient locations. They usually go to areas where there aren't grocery stores or other food pantries.
Mobile Food Pantry Schedule 2024
Unlike traditional food pantries where you go to them, mobile pantry trucks come to you. Food banks sometimes have an online mobile food pantry schedule.
Mobile food pantry scheduled to visit a community once a week or once a month. There may be last-minute cancellations or changes so recheck the mobile food pantry schedule before you plan to go.
We have located 0 Mobile Food Pantry locations in Stamford, Model.Content.StateName which provides a wide array of services. We have partnered so you can also check your eligibility.
St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry
The St. Vincent de Paul food pantry operates around Stamford, Connecticut much like a grocery store where people in need can choose their own food. It helps to enhance their personal dignity and reduces waste due to unwanted food items.
It also helps them to be proactive in addressing any underlying health issues. This is our model of choice for food pantries in the future.
We have located 0 St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry locations in Stamford, Connecticut which provides a wide array of services. We have partnered so you can also check your eligibility.
Food Pantry Delivery Program
Food Pantry Delivery Program delivers food and other products once a month at twenty points in around Stamford, Connecticut area. This makes it just a bit easier for some of more remote rural agencies to receive their products. About 70% of members take advantage of the Food Pantry Delivery Program.
Food Pantry
We have located 3 Food Pantry locations in Stamford, Connecticut which provides a wide array of services. We have partnered so you can also check your eligibility.
JFS Kosher Food Pantry
The JFS Kosher Food Pantry services the Stamford, New Canaan, Darien, Westport, Weston, Wilton and Norwalk Jewish communities. It providers Kosher food and personal care items, including assistance for pharmacy and transportation, to members of our community experiencing financial difficulties and are unable to afford food and household items for their families.
Services provided :
- food pantry
Appointments :
You can privately and easily book your appointment online for select services 24/7. For the full set of services, you can call (203) 921-4161 to book your appointment.
Address :
733 Summer St Ste 602,
Stamford, CT 06901.
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Help Residents of Cities:
- Stamford
Help Residents of Counties:
- Fairfield
New Covenant House of Hospitality
New Covenant House mission is “to provide a nutritious meal to all those who are hungry. By creating a safe, warm and compassionate environment, we are taking the first steps toward empowering men, women, and children to reach their full potential and regain their dignity and self-respect.†We are open every day to the public and provide three meals daily to anyone hungry. We also have a food pantry program that distributes bagged groceries every Tuesday, serving approximately 625 families each month. New Covenant House is the only soup kitchen in the greater Stamford area. The soup kitchen is an alternative for low income people to enjoy three meals daily at no charge. The food pantry offers alternatives for families unable to eat at the soup kitchen by providing bagged groceries, which is ideal for working families that need a supplement of food to make ends meet each month. In addition, we have an after-school and summer meal program that provides poor and disadvantaged children attending the Yerwood Center after-school and summer camp program a nutritious breakfast and a hot nutritious meal Monday through Friday at 4:00pm.
Services provided :
- food pantry
Appointments :
You can privately and easily book your appointment online for select services 24/7. For the full set of services, you can call (203) 964-8228 to book your appointment.
Address :
90 Fairfield Ave,
Stamford, CT 06904.
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- Stamford
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- Fairfield
The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, Inc.
The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, Inc., a fully recognized I.R.C. 501 (c) (3) charity, is lower Fairfield County’s primary hunger-relief organization. We provide food to more than 85 non-profit agencies and programs that serve low income people in our six town service area through bags of groceries and congregate meals. These include soup kitchens, food pantries, child care programs, homeless shelters, senior centers, domestic violence safe houses, and rehabilitation programs. During 2013, The Food Bank distributed 2,341,421 pounds of food to its member agencies at a savings to them of more than $3.7 million over the wholesale cost of the food. These agencies reported serving over 4 million meals to more than 150,000 individuals (unduplicated only within each agency) during this period. The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, Inc. originated in 1984 as an agency of the Council of Churches and Synagogues. In January 2003, The Food Bank became an independent entity with its own board of directors. The Food Bank is a Connecticut non-profit corporation that is exempt from Federal income tax under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Food Bank’s mission is to provide nutritious food to non-profit organizations that feed the hungry in Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, and Wilton while seeking to raise awareness of,and promote action to combat, hunger in those communities.
Services provided :
- food pantry
Appointments :
You can privately and easily book your appointment online for select services 24/7. For the full set of services, you can call (203) 358-8898 to book your appointment.
Address :
461 Glenbrook Rd,
Stamford, CT 06906.
Get Directions
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Help Residents of Cities:
- Stamford
Help Residents of Counties:
- Fairfield
Drive-thru Food Pantries
Since the start of the coronavirus, drive-thru food pantries have become the safest, most efficient way to provide food to our struggling neighbors.
Who can visit a drive-thru pantry?
Drive-thru pantries are open for anyone who needs help getting food. There are no eligibility criteria. Visitors do not need to provide any identification or income statements.
Only two piece of information is asked
- You Zipcode, and
- Number of people in their family.
You dont need to take appointment. Drive-thru pantries are first-come, first served so plan to arrive early.
How do drive-thru pantries actually work?
There are lot of volunteers help at Drive-thru food pantries. While not all drive-thru pantries operate in the same way, here�s how most work:
Staff and volunteers direct visitors to the parking area.
Visitors pull up to the pantry in their car and are usually guided into a clearly marked queue. As people move through the pantry, staff will continue to move the cars forward to get everyone through as quickly and safely as possible.
Checkin.
You are required to fill some information for Pantry's recording keeping.
Food is loaded into the cars.
Pre-packed bags of food, usually full of shelf-stable items like pasta, canned fruit and peanut butter, as well as fresh produce and meats are loaded by volunteers into the trunk of the car.
Pet Food Pantry
One in four pet owners who give up their pets to a shelter say it is because they cannot afford to care for them. Pet Food Pantries are designed to fill the void in the nation�s current assistance programs that exclude the purchase of food and supplies for family pets.
The Pet Food Pantry provides free pet food, for 3 months or less, to pet owners who cannot afford to feed their pets in Stamford, Connecticut
Who are eligible for Pet Food Pantry
Pet Food Pantry helps people who are:
- All ages, races and marital status
- Unemployed or underemployed
- Retired, living on social security or other limited income
- Physically or mentally disabled
- Experiencing homelessness or housing instability
Tips for Visiting a Food Pantry
Show up early.
This is very important. This means you will be first in line and have a chance to get the items that are sought after and in limited quantities such as fresh produce, dairy and frozen food.
You don't usually need to show up hours ahead of time but coming at least an hour before is usually a good idea.
Remember all documentation.
Many food pantries require documentation to prove who you are, and in some cases, where you live.
This is to make sure people are not coming more than they are allowed or using fake names to do so. Call ahead of time to find out what documentation is needed.
It's just your photo ID and a piece of mail that verifies your address.
Use several food banks.
Using more than one food bank (when available) is smart because you may be able to get something at one that you may not get at another.
For instance, one may have a deal with a local gardener that gives them their extras. This may mean this food bank has more produce.
Eligible for other programs?
Ask your Department of Social Services office if you are eligible for other assistance programs to supplement your household’s food supply.
They can easily tell you if you can apply for WIC (Women and Infant Children), USDA Commodities or SNAP(Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits.
Ask about extras.
If you have special needs for infants or special diets, the pantries may be able to assist you.
Many times, they can help with diapers, baby formula, baby food, personal hygiene products, and even special diet items like gluten free or sugar free foods.
Go on different days of the week.
Depending on the food pantry, they may be open only one or two days a week or they may be open all seven days. When you have a choice, going midweek is often best as it is less crowded.
Be polite to workers.
Nearly everyone at a food bank is a volunteer. Be polite to the workers there as they often deal with highly emotional situations.
FAQ(Frequently Asked Questions)
1. What is the difference between a food bank and a food pantry?
Independent community food pantries are self-governing and usually distribute food to their clients on a once-a-month basis. A food bank is the storehouse for millions of pounds of food and other products that go out to the community. A food pantry functions as the arms that reach out to that community directly.
2. What kind of food is at a food pantry?
Specifically, food banks often need items like:
- Peanut butter
- Canned soup
- Canned fruit
- Canned vegetables
- Pasta
- Canned beans
- Canned stew
- Canned fish
3. Who can go to food pantry?
At the majority of food pantries, eligibility is based on self-attested need. You do not need to have a referral, and income is not a factor to receive food.
4. What is the difference between a food pantry and a soup kitchen?
A food pantry provides three-day food packages to families that have a place to live, but not enough food. These packages are designed to provide nutritionally balanced meals. Soup kitchens serve individuals in need of a hot meal, the only meal of the day for many of them.
5. How does a food pantry work?
Food Banks acquire large donations of edible but unmarketable food from the food industry and distribute it to organizations that feed hungry people. Then they provide this food to family in a need.