Feeding the Soul: 3 Rhode Island Hunger Relief Agencies to Support this Holiday Season

Fresh vegetables and fruits line the shelves of the Jonnycake Center for Hope in Peace Dale. Photography courtesy of Jonnycake Center for Hope.

Now that November is here, many of us will soon gather with family and friends to celebrate the bounty of the season and the holidays in full force with home-cooked meals and plenty of liquid cheer.

Not all Rhode Islanders are as fortunate, however. One in three households in the Ocean State cannot meet their basic food needs, according to 2022’s RI Life Index. Add to that burgeoning food prices and the curtailing of COVID-era SNAP benefits, and it becomes clear that many are struggling this season. 

Hunger relief agencies and food pantries exist in most every community for those who need a little help, not just during the holidays, but year-round as well. They all gather and provide fresh, healthy food to local residents, and some even act as de facto community centers, offering children’s programs, cooking classes, tax-time assistance and more. 

We invite you to take a look inside some of the state’s food resources and meet the employees and volunteers who staff them, helping to make life a little easier for our neighbors. And if you feel so inclined this holiday season, all accept donations of nonperishable food, time and money. 

NORTH

Rhode Island Community Food Bank, Providence

The Rhode Island Community Food Bank distributed sixteen million pounds of food to the community last year from its cavernous facility just off Route 10 near the Cranston line. The organization acts as a clearinghouse, distributing food to 143 member food pantries throughout the state which then allocate the food to their clients.

Like most things nowadays, it’s all online: Food pantries log on to an online ordering system and choose items that will best serve their members.

Theresa Beeley, a community nutrition coordinator at the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, hosts a cooking demonstration. Photo courtesy of Rhode Island Community Food Bank.

The food comes from a variety of sources: items purchased in bulk, donations, and food from the US Department of Agriculture,
including proteins like chicken, beef and fish that are often relatively expensive for families. It’s a big change from 1982, when the RI Community Food Bank first opened its doors.

Then, all donations came from food companies. Food was cheaper, and companies often overproduced, with the surplus going to food banks, says Andrew Schiff, chief executive officer of the RI Community Food Bank. 

“But over the past forty years, companies have gotten more sophisticated. Inventory control is much more efficient, and they have way less surplus food to donate,” Schiff says. “Now, only a third of our food is donated. It’s a tremendous change that’s happened over time.”

The Rhode Island Community Food Bank’s headquarters in Providence. Photo courtesy of Rhode Island Community Food Bank.

The food bank is also buying more fresh fruits and vegetables than ever before. Back in the eighties and nineties, most of the fruits and vegetables were canned. Now, more than 20 percent of the food is fresh.

The organization helps 80,000 food-insecure residents each month — up from an average of 54,000 per month in 2021. Part of that is due to COVID-era SNAP benefits ending in March, and because of the skyrocketing cost of food and everyday necessities. Rising inflation has had the greatest impact on low-income families, Schiff says. 

“As the cost goes up for rent, food and health insurance, more and more families can’t make ends meet,” he says. 

Donation, fundraising, volunteering and food drive information can all be found on the food bank’s website, rifoodbank.org.

Warehouse team member Mark Sousa. Photo courtesy of Rhode Island Community Food Bank.

Sankofa Initiative

The RI Community Food Bank recently received a $500,000 Food Security Equity Impact Fund grant to support the Sankofa Initiative, a food and agriculture program that promotes self-sufficiency and economic well-being for residents of Providence’s West End.

Since 2011, the Sankofa Initiative has transformed 35,000 square feet into community garden sites, a farmers market and a large community kitchen that benefits local residents primarily of African, Central American and Southeast Asian descent. The West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation will use the funds to build a new greenhouse, renovate the kitchen space, host workshops and nutrition classes and hire staffers to manage the farmers market and gardens.

The Food Security Equity Impact Fund was created in 2021 with $20 million in seed funding from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

EAST

East Bay Food Pantry and Thrift Shop, Bristol

Since 2009, the East Bay Food Pantry has provided families with fresh, local food from a space tucked inside the Franklin Court Assisted Living building. East Bay residents can stop by twice a month to shop the pantry’s shelves and every Friday for fresh selections. 

Photo courtesy of East Bay Food Pantry and Thrift Shop.

Local businesses like Mello’s Fruitland, Mount Hope Farm, Coggeshall Farm Museum, the Beehive Cafe and Bristol Bagel Works frequently donate fresh produce and bread, while growers help round out the pantry’s selections, especially in the summer months. 

“We’ve had some real bumper crops this year,” says Executive Director Emily Mushen, including one Block Island grower with an excess of Asian pears and another farmer who brought in forty pounds of cucumbers two weeks in a row. “Typically, folks tend to call ahead and let us know what they’ll be bringing in. But sometimes it’s a surprise and we just add it to the shelves.” 

Photo courtesy of East Bay Food Pantry and Thrift Shop.

Families with children under eighteen can do a mini pantry shop every Friday of shelf-stable items as well as milk, eggs and cheese. A mobile pantry delivers to anyone who’s homebound or has mobility issues, and every month, a mobile cart delivers snacks, personal care items and fruit to residents of Franklin Court. 

The thrift shop stocks clothing, shoes, housewares and home decor items. It’s open Monday, Tuesday and Saturday from 10 a.m.–4 p.m., with all proceeds benefiting the food pantry.

Volunteer MaryKae Wright distributes food for the East Bay Food Pantry. Photo courtesy of East Bay Food Pantry and Thrift Shop.

The food pantry served 2,098 people in 1,034 households in 2023. 

It’s always looking for volunteers and donations of food and goods for the pantry and thrift store, in addition to monetary donations. Find more information on its website, eastbayfoodpantry.org. 

The East Bay Food Pantry and Thrift Shop in Bristol has served local residents since 2009. Photo courtesy of East Bay Food Pantry and Thrift Shop.

SOUTH

Jonnycake Center for Hope, South Kingstown

In February 1974, the Narragansett Times ran a story about a widow who was left with $1.25 a week to spend on food and necessities after paying rent and utilities. A group of concerned citizens banded together, and in April 1974 opened the first Jonnycake Center to provide food and clothing to those in need. 

The center has seen remarkable growth since then; it now provides 2,000 people per year with fresh food, cooking and nutrition classes, yoga and Zumba classes, youth drop-in programs and free tax preparation services. (The center serves residents of South Kingstown, Narragansett, Jamestown and Block Island.) 

Fresh produce at the Jonnycake Center for Hope. Photo courtesy of Jonnycake Center for Hope.

With the help of the community, it raised $1.8 million to convert the old Peace Dale Grammar School on Kersey Road into a multipurpose building that houses its food pantry, a community room and demonstration kitchen for classes and after-school programs, and staff offices. 

Members can shop twice a month for food staples like milk, eggs, poultry, cereal, nonperishable items and fresh produce, says Kate Brewster, the center’s chief executive officer. Much of the fresh food comes from local farmers and gardeners, as well as from local businesses like Roch’s Fresh Foods, Little Rhody Egg Farms, Rhody Fresh and Bagelz.

In the summer, the Jamestown Community Farm, URI’s East Farm and Brandon Family Farm in West Kingston all donate produce. 

The kitchen and dining area houses classes and demonstrations. Photo courtesy of Jonnycake Center for Hope.

After fifty years of serving the community, the center is heading in a new direction: After hearing from teens and parents about the lack of activities in town, staffers decided to turn the center’s thrift store on Kingstown Road into a youth center. This summer they offered a drop-in program for teens, taking them surfing and offering arts-and-crafts activities.

“They were hungry for something to do and somewhere to go,” Brewster says. “A lot of kids that we serve haven’t even been to the beach and don’t know where it is, despite living here their whole lives.” 

Construction on the youth center should begin in early 2024 and wrap up in the summer. 

The Jonnycake Center for Hope is housed in the renovated Peace Dale Grammar School building on Kersey Road. Photo courtesy of Jonnycake Center for Hope.

And in its newest venture, the Jonnycake Center is creating affordable housing for its members. Its former offices have morphed into an apartment, and the center took over five multi-unit rental properties from two nonprofits that dissolved after the pandemic. In all, the units may house up to nineteen families.

“Wherever we can grab space, we’re trying to turn that into housing,” Brewster says.

Every holiday season, the Jonnycake Center gives gifts to local children and seniors, and will gladly accept donations of gift cards, clothing and toys. The center is always looking for volunteers and monetary and nonperishable food donations. Learn more at jonnycakecenter.org.

Most Needed Foods

• Nut and seed butters: Peanut, sunflower, soy nut, almond, cashew.
• Soups and stews: Any variety, canned or boxed.   
• Pasta, macaroni and cheese:
• Any variety, boxed, bagged or canned.
• Breakfast cereals: Any variety.   
• Rice: Jasmine, yellow, basmati, white and brown.
• Canned fish and meat: Tuna, chicken, sardines, salmon.    
• Canned fruit: Pineapple, mango, peaches, pears, mandarin oranges, fruit cocktail.
• Canned vegetables: Corn, green beans, peas, spinach, okra.
• Tomato products: Diced, crushed, sauce, paste.
• Beans and lentils: Canned or dried black, cannellini, kidney, fava, chickpeas, etc.
• Sauces, spices and condiments: In plastic bottles or cans only, no glass. Sofrito, fish sauce, soy sauce, coconut milk, extra virgin olive oil, rice vinegar, crushed red pepper, paprika, adobo, cinnamon, ginger.

Do Not Donate

• Expired foods.
• Refrigerated items.
• Items with open or damaged packaging.
• Leftovers.
• Baked goods. 

—Sources: Rhode Island Community Food Bank, Feeding America.