The National Hunger Hotline (NHH), a service of WhyHunger’s National Hunger Clearinghouse, provides real-time referrals for people in need across the U.S. to emergency food resources and assistance programs. Receiving an average of 700 calls per month, the NHH is a portal to information, assistance and resources, ultimately  empowering families and individuals to meet their vital needs including fresh healthy food.

A man from Wyoming  recently called the Hotline on behalf of a family living in his community.  The mother is an undocumented resident in the United States while her two small children are U.S. citizens.  The man, a nearby neighbor, was concerned for the children and wanted to ensure that they would be able to access food through SNAP.

WhyHunger’s NHH advocate provided the man with the phone numbers of the SNAP offices in the area.  The man took the numbers so that he could act as proxy for the woman and her children.  Knowing that the family would have to wait 30 t0 60 days before being able to access food through SNAP, the man said that he would provide meals for the children until their SNAP benefits came through.

The National Hunger Hotline 1-866-3 HUNGRY and 1-877-8 HAMBRE (1-866-348-6479 and 1-877-842-6273) refers people in need of emergency food assistance to food pantries, government programs, and model grassroots organizations that work to improve access to healthy, nutritious food, and build self-reliance.  Help is available on Monday through Friday from 9am-6pm EST.  Hablamos español.