options in the south jersey + atlantic city area for those affected by the shutdown

tips:

text your zip code to 1-800-5-HUNGRY (1-800-548-6479) — you’ll get an instant list of nearby food banks sent to your phone.

🛒 Free Take-Home Meal Kit for SNAP Recipients! 🛒

Cedar Basic Food will be giving out free meal kits this Thursday, November 6th, from 11 AM – 1 PM — exclusively for SNAP recipients.

Each kit includes fresh ingredients to prepare a complete meal for 4 at home.

📍 1700 Baltic Avenue, Atlantic City

⏰ Thursday, 11 AM – 1 PM

Please bring proof of SNAP eligibility. One kit per household while supplies last.

We’re proud to support our community — come pick up your family meal kit!

Mighty Writers Food Distributions (Greater Philadelphia & South Jersey)

Offer: Free groceries and produce across multiple NJ and PA sites.

Atlantic City locations:

-Christ Gospel Church, 615 Ohio Ave

-Stanley Holmes Village Community Center, 1539 Adriatic Ave

More Info: bit.ly/mightydistro

Instagram: @mightywriters

Tony’s Baltimore Grill (Atlantic City)

Date: Starts November 1

Offer: Any families with SNAP can show their card and receive as many free kids meals as needed.

Location: 2800 Atlantic Ave, Atlantic City

Instagram: @tonysbaltimoregrill

TBG started a free food for kids train , other places contributing w/ this offer are:

Freddy J's Bar & Kitchen, Mays Landing

Sunrise Cafe, Ocean City

Boondocks Market and Grill, Sweetwater

Varsity Inn, Ocean City

Norstep Productions

Citywide Charity Drive. Drop off locations include

• Cuzzies Steaks

• Hayday Coffee

• Cardinal Restaurant

• Side Pony Printshop

• Anchor Rock Club

• Peaches Garden

• Sunny Tien

• Honey Buzz Farm

• The Byrdcage

• Artist Playground ( Dirty Politics Clothing )

• and your biz?

Jewish Family Service (JFS) – Margate

Location: 607 N Jerome Ave, Margate City (right next to the JCC)

Offer: Provides food and other forms of aid for individuals and families in need.

Donations: Accepts canned and non-perishable food donations.

More Info: jfsatlantic.org

K&A Bagel (Cherry Hill)

Offer: Free bags of bagels for anyone affected by the government shutdown.

When: Wednesday – Sunday, for as long as the shutdown continues.

Location: 1200 Marlton Pike E, Cherry Hill, NJ

Instagram: @kabagelcafe

Sister Jean’s Kitchen (Atlantic City)

Need: Donations and volunteers.

Why: Atlantic County has 32,000 SNAP recipients; many will lose benefits Nov 1 if the shutdown continues.

Mission: Provide emergency meals throughout the holidays — “No one should face an empty table.”

Donate: Sister Jean’s Kitchen

Community FoodBank of New Jersey – Egg Harbor Township

Running emergency distributions and mobile pantries for SNAP households.

cfbnj.org

Food Bank of South Jersey

Additional pop-ups in Camden, Gloucester, and Atlantic Counties during shutdown.

foodbanksj.org

Atlantic City Rescue Mission

Daily hot meals, plus take-away grocery bags for families.

2009 Bacharach Blvd, Atlantic City

acrescuemission.org

Nor'Easter Nick

Provides gift cards to families in need of grocery bills, holiday meals, and more in the South Jersey area.

therainydayproject.org

Free Breakfast for Pitman Students

Starting November 3, Pitman students are welcome to stop by The Gathering Room at First Baptist Church of Pitman every school morning from 6:30–8:00 a.m. for free breakfast and items to pack a lunch to-go.

Menu includes:

instant oatmeal, cereal, fresh fruit, granola bars, peanut butter & jelly, chips, and more.

Volunteer:

sign up to help at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0845AEAA29A3F49

Donate:

drop off donations by the door next to the mailbox marked The Gathering Room

or ship to:

First Baptist Church of Pitman

30 N. Broadway

Pitman, NJ 08071

Collingswood Farmers Market

This November, SNAP users can still buy fresh, local food at the Collingswood Farmers' Market every Saturday through Thanksgiving from 8 AM to 12 PM at 713 North Atlantic Ave. SNAP shoppers can stop by the SNAP/EBT table and present your EBT card to receive up to $25 in Market Vouchers, plus a match up to $25 in Good Food Bucks for fresh fruits & veggies (no card transaction required). That’s up to $50 each week to spend at the market on fresh, nutrient-dense food for you and your family. This community-funded effort is made possible by Collingswood Cares, Good Food Bucks NJ, and donations from generous neighbors.

beyond:

spring house tavern (ambler, pa) – free home-cooked meals for snap recipients (show card).

juana tamale (philadelphia) – free kids meals for families with snap cards, nov 1 until benefits resume.

center city pretzel (philadelphia) – three free pretzels for anyone with an ebt card.

win wah (conshohocken) – half-price meals for snap + wic families from nov 1–15, 2 p.m.–4:30 p.m.

national programs

• doordash: delivering 1 million free meals to food banks nationwide + waiving fees on 300k grocery orders for snap recipients.

• gopuff: offering a $50 grocery credit for snap users with connected ebt cards (starts nov 1).

am. i missing anything? email thedivinghorseac@gmail.com

what to know about snap

the government shutdown isn’t some faraway problem in washington. it’s right here, in south jersey. it’s paychecks that never hit, grocery carts left half full, and small businesses trying to stretch one more week without customers coming through the door.

snap, the supplemental nutrition assistance program, is one of the first things frozen. it’s the program that helps people buy food when money runs short. it started in the 1930s during the great depression, when the government bought extra crops from farmers and used them to feed families. it became national policy in the 1960s. it still exists because it works.

most people on snap are kids, seniors, or working adults who still can’t make ends meet. the average benefit in new jersey is about six dollars a day per person. it’s not steak dinners and luxury groceries. it’s eggs, bread, rice, milk, and maybe a snack for a kid’s lunchbox. and it doesn’t matter what people buy with it. everyone deserves good food. real food. not just the cheapest calories they can afford.

there’s this idea that people on assistance should prove they’re “responsible” with every dollar. but the whole point of snap is to let people buy what they need, when they need it. being poor doesn’t mean you lose the right to make choices.

snap spending also helps the economy. for every dollar put into snap, about two dollars flow back into local communities. that’s grocery stores staying open, farmers selling crops, and delivery drivers keeping work. it’s not charity. it’s circulation.

the program costs less than two percent of the federal budget. that’s pocket change compared to corporate subsidies, tax breaks, and bailouts that quietly hand billions to companies already sitting on record profits.

now, because of the shutdown, snap benefits are frozen. over 130,000 people in south jersey and nearly 800,000 across the state could lose access to food benefits. local food banks are stretched thin. restaurants and churches are doing what they can, but they can’t fill a gap this big.

the shutdown reaches further than most people realize. federal employees in south jersey—tsa agents, coast guard families, social security workers—aren’t being paid. you will not catch me on an airplane or near nyc this deep into a shutdown lol. contractors, janitors, and maintenance crews who rely on those paychecks are out of work too. every unpaid worker means another grocery store, café, or diner making fewer sales.

the congressional budget office estimates the shutdown could cost the country up to fourteen billion dollars. that’s not an abstract number. that’s rent, car payments, school lunches, and missed bills. south jersey isn’t built to absorb that kind of hit quietly.

people like to complain about “handouts,” but snap isn’t the problem. fraud is rare, less than one percent. most people on it work or are looking for work. the real waste isn’t a family using benefits to buy groceries. it’s the billions that vanish upward, to corporations and defense contractors that never skip a meal.

if you see someone taking food from a chain store right now, look away. people are trying to eat. and if a country can’t feed its people, the problem isn’t the hungry.

good food should not be a privilege. it’s the baseline of a functioning society. snap isn’t about dependency. it’s about stability. it’s one of the few programs that actually keeps families alive, small businesses open, and communities breathing.

south jersey has lived through enough. the least a government can do is make sure its people can eat.