How it works

Our clients can be any resident of Charlottesville or Albemarle County. There are no financial requirements and we ask no personal questions. We truly see a cross-section of our area’s population, from students to grandparents; from the homeless to those with jobs whose income doesn’t quite stretch from paycheck to paycheck; and from recent immigrants to people here for generations.

Clients may call for food once per month. If they find themselves in dire need, they may get a referral from a church or social worker to receive food more frequently.

New clients simply register with us by giving us their name and address and the last four digits of their Social Security number, and the same information for every member of their family, including the ages of their children. We ask for no financial information.

The amount of food each client receives depends on the size of the household. A dietitian on our board approves our selection and actively works with the Emergency Food Network to ensure that our offerings are healthy and well balanced.

We are very happy to be able to offer a large variety of Extras, which our clients can choose for themselves when they come to pick up their bag(s) of food. Popular selections include cooking oil, mayonnaise, salad dressing, coffee, tea, sugar, and salt. We also offer toiletries and cleaning supplies like dish soap and disinfectant wipes.

Personal hygiene items and laundry detergent are available upon request.