Food Assistance Programs
Our programs are created to meet the needs of Boca Raton and greater Palm Beach County individuals!
Pantry Bag Program
Open to qualifying residents
Qualifying Florida residents can receive pantry bags filled with perishable and non-perishable groceries through our drive-thru distribution service, available six days a week at five Palm Beach County locations.
Eligibility is available to households with incomes at or below 300% of the current federal poverty guidelines for their household size, as established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Individuals currently enrolled in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or Medicaid automatically qualify.
Registration is completed in person during your first visit.
Hot Meal Program
Open to anyone.
The Hot Meal Program provides hot, nutritious meals to anyone and no identification will be requested.
Walk-up clients only can pick up a hot, nutritious meal in East Boca from 10:30 am – 12:30 pm, Monday through Friday. Drive-Thru hot meals are available in Lake Worth from 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm on Fridays.
Homebound Meals
Food assistance for homebound clients
Are you or someone you know homebound and requiring food assistance? Sign up for our Homebound Meal Program!
Registration Requirements:
- A doctor’s note verifying homebound status due to age, ailment or disability.
- Reside within our delivery area east of I-95, within the Boca Raton city limits (from the northern city boundary to the southern city boundary).
For more information or to register, contact Distribution Manager, Jason Cascio, at jasonc@bocahelpinghands.org, at (561) 417-0913 ext. 207.
KidsPack Weekend Meals
Providing weekend meals to local school children
As many as 54,000 children in Palm Beach County don't know where their next meal is coming from—a challenge made worse by rising inflation. A signature program of Boca Helping Hands since 2011, KidsPack Weekend Meals addresses the crisis of youth food insecurity by serving children who receive their primary weekday meals through the U.S. government-subsidized free and reduced-price lunch program and may not have enough to eat on the weekends.
KidsPack Weekend Meals serves more than 1,900 students each week across 15 schools and 5 summer camps. Boca Helping Hands purchases the food and delivers meals to participating schools on a weekly basis.
Each Friday, Boca Helping Hands sends food-insecure children home with a box of non-perishable, easy-to-prepare food that meets recommended dietary guidelines. Each box contains six (6) meals, two (2) shelf-stable milks, and two (2) snacks, helping ensure children have enough to eat over the weekend when they cannot depend on school meals.
For the past 15 years, Boca Helping Hands has raised the funds and managed the logistics to keep this program running. Dedicated volunteers from local faith communities, businesses, and service clubs commit their time each week to pack the meals that make this program possible.
To learn about volunteer opportunities, please visit our Volunteer page. To support the KidsPack Weekend Meals Program, please visit our KidsPack donation page.
