Americans Helping Americans® Provides Food and Cooking Instruction to Needy Families

May 25, 2023

Earlier this month, Americans Helping Americans® shipped out 2,500 boxes containing non-perishable food items including canned chicken breast, tuna, salmon, mushroom soup and vegetables, pasta, rice, non-fat dry milk, dry great northern beans and more to our partners in Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Tennessee and West Virginia – enough to last a family of four a week or more.

Among them was Friendship Central School in Friendship, New York, which received 336 boxes and instead of simply handing out the boxes to the hundreds of needy school families, FCS staff member Jacqueline Dent informed us that they would also be offering cooking demonstrations using the foods included in the box.

At its “Good Food Fest” scheduled for June 1, families will gather in the school’s cafeteria where they learn how to make meals including chicken gravy over rice with veggies, tuna noodle casserole, salmon patties and beans, and more.

“Every meal at the event will be made with the foods found in each box,” said Jacqueline.

In addition to the cooking demonstrations, attendees at the free all-ages FCS event will take part in a buffet-style taste testing and at the conclusion every family will go home with a food box.

“We are excited and hope to have a great response!” Jacqueline told us.

Related Blogs

Operation Warmth: Keeping Appalachia Warm This Winter

Operation Warmth: Keeping Appalachia Warm This Winter

Winter is here in the hills and hollers of Appalachia, where in West Virginia, winter lows are often below freezing and sometimes drop below 10 degrees, according to West Virginia University. And this year, the Old Farmer’s Almanac released its 2025/2026 winter…

A Season of Sharing in McDowell County

A Season of Sharing in McDowell County

Last year, Big Creek People in Action (BCPIA), with the generous support of Americans Helping Americans®, helped ensure that the spirit of togetherness filled McDowell County from Thanksgiving through Christmas. Across several weeks, families gathered for community…

Bringing the Warmth of the Holidays to Appalachian Families

Bringing the Warmth of the Holidays to Appalachian Families

This coming holiday season, Americans Helping Americans® is providing grant funding to our Appalachian partners to enable the less fortunate in their distressed communities to enjoy festive Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. In Georgia, our partner in Gainesville,…

A volunteer team from Americans Helping Americans assists a homeowner with essential home rehabilitation repairs in an Appalachian community, completing bathroom renovations and porch rebuilding to make the home safe and livable.

Repairing Roofs and Restoring Hope

Home rehabilitation is a Basic Need supported by Americans Helping Americans® in four Appalachian communities. This year, Americans Helping Americans® gifted four organizations $65,000 to complete 141 projects servicing 154 individuals. Among them was Appalachian…