Long Beach, California – Long Beach Food Pantry Delivery, established by local non-profit Help Me Help You, has expanded its service to include persons with disabilities as well as seniors who are unable to access their 11 Long Beach food pantry locations.
To ensure our vulnerable seniors (60 years plus) could access nutritious food, Help Me Help You launched Long Beach Food Pantry Delivery (LBFPD) during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. LBFPD provided free weekly groceries delivered contact-free to the doorstep of senior residents in need. Eligible seniors received fresh and packaged groceries, weekly recipes; nutritional information; a needs analysis; and free benefit enrollment services for Calfresh, Medical, and General Relief, as well as links to housing services. Within a two-year period, LBFPD grew to service 500 senior residents each week. However, since COVID grants and funding ceased in 2021, the services have been reduced from weekly grocery deliveries to twice a month. Unfortunately, due to persistent inflation, the need for food equity continues to rise.
Food insecurity also disproportionately affects people with disabilities because they are often at a greater risk of unemployment, receive lower-paying salaries, and are more likely to encounter transportation obstacles to access food pantries. Now to ensure no one in our community goes hungry, eligible seniors and Persons with Disabilities (mental and physical) who can’t access Help Me Help You food pantry locations can qualify for food pantry delivery to their homes in Long Beach and the surrounding area. This includes the cities of Carson, Lomita, Wilmington, Signal Hill, and more (within a 10-mile radius of 90813). To secure the feasibility and longevity of this crucial service, clients can choose from a once-a-month delivery or twice-a-month for a $10 delivery fee each time.
As recognized by the Community Guide In Action Story, LBFPD adapted a Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommendation for home-delivered food for older adults to address the issue of food insecurity. LBFPD is an Evidence-Based Program determined to fight the growing levels of senior hunger and malnutrition. For many, LBFPD has been life-changing is not life-saving.
“I would take three buses and walk over an hour to get my food pantry groceries until I became too weak. Thank God for HMHY, who are kindly delivering my food pantry selection of groceries to my door. I don’t know how I would survive without them”, said Thelma, senior LBFPD client.
LBFPD has already started delivering nutritious groceries to Persons with Disabilities in our community. If you need this vital service, please check your eligibility and register your interest at www.helpmehelpu.org/lbfpd. Alternatively, if you would like to support this program, please make a tax-deductible donation at www.helpmehelpu.org/donate-now
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