Emergency Meals for Kids & Teens

US Department of Agriculture

Find Emergency Meals for Kids and Teens

USDA Food and Nutrition Service has begun granting waivers that allow states approved for non-congregate feeding, greater flexiblities which allow parents and/or guardians to pick up meals for their children, without the student needing to be present. This waiver is effective immediately, and remains in effect through June 30, 2020, or until expiration of the federally declared public health emergency, whichever is earlier.  Click here for more information. 


Online Mapping Tool to Find Feeding Sites

Parents with kids and teens 18 years old and under can use our Meals 4 Kids mapping tool to find sites near them where they can pick up free nutritious meals and snacks. To maintain social distancing, kids and teens may take their meal home to eat.  Simply type in your address and find results. 

*As of April 10, 2020, the map contains information on around 27,000 feeding sites from 30 states including: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, FL, GA, HI, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MS, NC, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, OH, OK, OR, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA and WI.

www.fns.usda.gov/meals4kids

Find Meals for Kids site finder

During this national emergency, many schools have unexpectedly closed due to health concerns related to COVID-19.  Usually, the rules require that children gather and eat their meals on site. However, due to the exceptional circumstances of this public health emergency and the need for social distancing, USDA established a nationwide waiver to remove the requirement that children eat at the sites in a group setting.


No Kid Hungry texting hotline

Text 'Food' to 877-877 to Find Feeding Sites for Kids and Teens

In addition to USDA's Meal For Kids online mapping tool, No Kid Hungry offers a national texting service that allows parents or students to find feeding sites near them by text.   

How it works:

  • Text ‘FOOD’ to 877-877 or 'COMIDA' to 877-877 for information in Spanish.
  • User receives text back prompting them to enter a street address, city and state and/or zip code for their desired location. While the service is able to return results for inputs that include only city and state and/or zip code, including a full street address will return results that are more accurate.
  • The service then texts back information about nearby meal sites, or information about how to access other food resources if no sites are operating in the vicinity.

USDA Hunger Hotline

Call National Hunger Hotline 

Call the USDA National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-348-6479, Monday-Friday, 7:00 am - 10:00 pm EST for help locating local feeding sites, food banks, or food pantries. 


FoodFinder app

FoodFinder App

Find emergency food locations by using the FoodFinder online tool or mobile app. 
https://foodfinder.us/about-us


USDA FNS Covid-19

Find Updates On USDA FNS Response to COVID-19

USDA intends to use all available program flexibilities and contingencies to serve our program participants across our 15 nutrition programs. We have already begun to issue waivers to ease program operations and protect the health of participants.  For all the latest information on our programs during this national emergency visit:

www.fns.usda.gov/disaster/pandemic/covid-19