Family Food Resources: Enough for All
Los Angeles County is working to ensure that everyone in the county has plenty to eat — and stay safe — during the COVID-19 outbreak. Here are sources of food for family members, young and old, at this time:
- Everytable is offering free food for all, including delivering meals to seniors at their homes. Call the Everytable Helpline at 323-458-6487 for questions and more information. View updates on their Instagram page. Click here for a map of locations.
- LA Food Bank – Food Pantry Locator – To find a local food pantry in your area, visit: https://www.lafoodbank.org/find-food/pantry-locator/
- Los Angeles Unified School District has free food for students at 60 Grab and Go Food Centers starting Wednesday, March 18th from 7:00 am – 10:00 am. View the map to find a location near you.
- Other school districts throughout LA County are implementing similar services including Long Beach, Compton, and Pasadena.
- El Torito offers free kids meals for children under the age of 12. View updates on their Facebook page.
- Grocery Shopping for Seniors, People with Disabilities and Pregnant Women. All Northgate Gonzalez Markets and Super A Foods will offer one hour that is exclusively dedicated for seniors to grocery shop only. All Vallarta Supermarkets will offer one hour that is dedicated for seniors, disabled people and pregnant women to grocery shop only.
- Grocery Stores – Grocery stores will continue to be stocked during the coronavirus outbreak, so please avoid panic-buying or over-buying.
- WIC –– In Los Angeles County, many WIC offices are not providing face-to-face services at the WIC centers and are providing remote services to families through active outreach by phone, text and email. WIC is also responding to those who contact us via phone and text. Please be assured that WIC is able to upload food benefits for families already participating in the program, and is actively engaged in enrolling new participants remotely. People who have been economically affected by the COVID-19 crisis and are pregnant, postpartum or have a child under five years old can apply for WIC services by texting APPLY to 91997, calling WIC at 888-942-2229, or visiting www.phfewic.org/apply.
- DPSS –– In accordance with Governor Newsom’s Executive Order, ALL DPSS benefits, including Medi-Cal, CalFresh, CalWORKs and General Relief benefit payments will be issued without interruption for the months of March, April and May 2020.
- The City and County are providing free meals to older adults 60 and older who are impacted by the crisis. Here is a map of sites offering meal delivery.
- FamilySource Centers: Families can obtain grocery gift cards through the network of FamilySource Centers. 3-1-1 staff will connect callers to a Family Source Center to apply over the phone and schedule an appointment. More information, click here.
- Meals for seniors: L.A. City’s Emergency Senior Meals Response program – if you are over 60 years of age and in need of a home-delivered meal or know someone who is, please call 213-263-5226 or visit Coronavirus.LACity.org/SeniorMeals.
- Residents in the City of Los Angeles First Council District may receive free meals –– The Free Meal Program is scheduled to last four to six weeks, starting Monday, April 21. The program will provide a total of about 35,000 meals. Households in the first district interested in receiving meals must email [email protected]. For more information, click here.
- California Food Policy Advocates: To help partners in advocacy understand some of the new waivers/flexibilities available for WIC, SNAP/CalFresh, and other child nutrition programs, CFPA have created a COVID-19 Resource Page, including:
- EBT can now be used to purchase groceries online!
- Los Angeles County Nutrition Assistance Resources Flyer #LetsFeedLACounty
Resources for Pet Food:
- LA Animal Services Pet Food Pantry: https://www.laanimalservices.com/petfoodpantry/
The programs are funded through the City of Los Angeles with federal COVID relief funds.
This is an exciting idea and I am looking forward to discussing it with my friends and colleagues on February 23. RSVP for the virtual town hall at the link below.
Zoom reg link: https://zoom.us/…/tJ0tcO2qrTwqHtMsMKWaIJsJSaytSg6YQtlI