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What to do When the Cupboard is Bare

14.5% of households in the U.S. are struggling to put enough food on the table. That is more than 48 million Americans! To make matters even worse, 16.2 million children live in these households.

Luckily, there are many programs that help people who are struggling from hunger.

Food Stamps

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) gives monthly electronic benefits that can be used as cash at certain food stores. Eligibility for SNAP is based on household size, income, and other factors.

There are currently 44.7 million Americans who use SNAP. The benefits given increased from $50.36 billion in 2009 to $71.81 billion in 2011.

Food Banks

Food banks are nonprofit wholesalers that gather and distribute food to pantries (free grocery stores) and to soup kitchens.

Feeding America, the nation’s leading hunger-relief charity, gives food to more than 37 million Americans each year. Feeding America has a network of 202 local member food banks across the country and provides 3 billion pounds of food every year. 

Check out ways to help fight hunger. GO [1]

Sources:

Bread [2]

CNS News  [3]

Feeding America  [4]

Homelessness and Poverty [5]
Hunger [6]
Source URL: http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/food-crisis-when-cupboard-bare

Links:
[1] http://www.dosomething.org/cause/72/act-now
[2] http://www.bread.org/hunger/us/facts.html
[3] http://cnsnews.com/news/article/447-million-americans-now-food-stamps-more-any-time-under-bush
[4] http://http://feedingamerica.org/
[5] http://www.dosomething.org/cause/homelessness-and-poverty
[6] http://www.dosomething.org/issues/hunger