How Various Food Service Programs Work

Food service programs do a lot to feed the communities in which they operate. There are a couple of different types of food programs. If you would like to volunteer for these programs, or you know anyone who is hungry and needs help getting food, check with the following groups:

Centrally-Located Food Kitchens

Centrally-located food kitchens cook massive amounts of food every day for schools, churches, missions, and elderly homes. They are supplied by donations and grants to fund food purchases and hire cooks. Additional help comes from those in the community. The extra helpers deliver the food as well as wrap and pack the food onto a truck.

Soup Kitchens

Soup kitchens serve soup and some other hearty foods to the homeless and those in need. Soup kitchens may be open several days a week, or only be open a couple of days a week. Meals are often served for lunch and/or dinner on the same days that they are open to the public. Volunteers usually serve the food and spend time talking to those who come through the doors.

Church Outreaches

Like the soup kitchens, church outreach programs offer a hot meal once or twice a week. Usually, the churches and the outreach companies try to coordinate which days of the week they will serve in an attempt to offer one hot meal every day of the week. The people that need the food the most are able to make the rounds in the community to make sure they are not starving and they are surviving.

Emergency Service Providers

Emergency service providers such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army also ask for volunteers on a regular basis. You may be serving your own community, or you may be asked to travel to places that have recently been devastated by natural disasters (e.g., Texas and Hurricane Harvey).

Meals for the Home-Bound and Elderly

Another group that provides for people in need aids the elderly and the homebound. Meals are made and wrapped, kept warm in a delivery truck, and delivered in person to each door. Many of these meals come out of the organization's own kitchen, but if the need is really great, community kitchens may be tapped to assist with the efforts. Volunteers deliver meals and spend time making the day a little less lonely for those that ask for and receive a regular meal from this organization.

Contact a company like New Horizon Foods for more information and assistance. 

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