There are stories from across the United States of Super Awesome People™ donating food to feed the hungry and essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are just a few of them.
Food Donations Across America
Feeding America launched a COVID-19 Response Fund and maintains a nationwide network of food banks which distribute 4.3 billion meals each year across the United States.
When NYC restaurants started shutting down in mid-March, many of them donated their perishables to City Harvest, New York City’s largest food rescue organization that collects and redistributes food at risk of being thrown out to NYC residents in need. City Harvest saw a huge spike in restaurant donations, from 2% to 10% of their typical weekly haul.
An Idaho potato farm, unable to sell to restaurants that had drastically reduced their business, opted to give away thousands of pounds of potatos, rather than see them go to waste or get used as cattle feed.
In a unique take on the Little Free Library concept, Little Free Pantries started appearing in 2016, as a grassroots effort to help food insecure families meet their basic needs. And now Little Free Libraries are being converted into Little Free Pantries in places like Arkansas and Minnesota, to provide essential goods to struggling neighbors during the pandemic.
In Oregon, Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon have compiled a comprehensive list of local services providing relief during the pandemic, with resources for college students, immigrants and undocumented folks, and for locals who need information on the SNAP, WIC, Meals on Wheels, and more.
Food donations for Elmhurst Hospital in NY (organized by Venmo: @rebeccalouie) 
Soul & Smoke delivers thousands of donated meals in the Evanston, IL area (@soulandsmoke)
In Queens, NY, a friend of mine is coordinating donations to feed the team at Elmhurst Hospital, in one of the hardest-hit areas of NYC. The donations are two-fold: to feed the hard-working hospital staff at Elmhurst and to support local Queens restaurants that are struggling amidst the pandemic.
Gifts of Comfort Food in Evanston, IL
And in Evanston, IL, the Chicago BBQ restaurant Soul & Smoke is delivering meals for neighbors in need during the pandemic. You can purchase meals to donate, and Feast & Imbibe and Soul & Smoke will cook and individually package the meals and offer free no-touch deliveries to people in need in their community. You can also purchase meals to be sent directly to yourself or someone you know.
According to their Facebook page, as of April 16th, Soul & Smoke had delivered 8668 meals:
- 5722 Meals to the Evanston Community
- 1100 Meals to I Grow Chicago
- 600 Meals to The Montessori School of Englewood
- 550 Meals to Connections for the Homeless
- 462 Meals to Area Hospitals (Evanston, Skokie, St. Francis, Lurie’s, Swedish, Illinois Masonic, Ingalls)
- 164 Meals to the YWCA Evanston/North Shore
- 40 Meals to the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC)
- 30 Meals to Evanston Paramedics
They have also partnered with World Central Kitchen and The Trotter Project to keep their work going. And most recently, they partnered with Westfield Old Orchard who are matching donations to feed frontline workers.
To purchase meal donations from Soul & Smoke, you can choose your level of support here. Follow @soulandsmoke and @feastandimbibe on Instagram and Facebook for daily meal updates.