The Rhode Island Community Food Bank thanks @govdanmckee.bsky.social for proposing a $2M investment in the Food Bank in the FY27 state budget. As 1 in 3 Rhode Island families struggle to put food on the table, this commitment is deeply appreciated. Read more: tinyurl.com/2vu623mk

⚠️ 1 in 3 Rhode Island households are food insecure. As demand reaches historic highs, the need for action has never been greater. Join us Jan 27 at 3 PM at the RI State House for Food Insecurity Awareness Day. Make your voice heard: tinyurl.com/3fddrjaw

Demand for emergency food assistance reached historic highs in 2025, and with federal cuts ahead, the need will only grow. As we plan for unprecedented hunger and uncertainty, @govdanmckee.bsky.social's commitment to the Food Bank and our member agencies is critical and deeply appreciated.

When neighbors face barriers to SNAP, connection and guidance matter. In FY25, our SNAP Outreach team helped 1,470+ households access over $1.1M in benefits. Read this story and more in our FY2025 Annual Report: tinyurl.com/by9tk8r9

From all of us here at the RI Community Food Bank, happy holidays! ❄️🎄 Thank you for your partnership and generosity throughout the past year, and for embracing our CEO, Melissa Cherney, as a new Rhode Islander. However you celebrate, we hope it's warm, happy, and healthy.

Introducing the RI Food Bank's first Holiday Gift Guide! 💝 Shopping small, supporting nonprofits we love, and buying secondhand make the season more meaningful, and our dollars become votes for a more interconnected, just, sustainable community. tinyurl.com/4bm69hyn

The 12th Annual Holiday Benefit Cover Show from Check Yourself Productions is back, and we're honored to be this year's beneficiary! 🎶 Join us Saturday, Dec 13 at The Parlour in PVD (18+). $15 cover or $20 w/ raffle entry. Great local talent + prizes: all for a great cause. tinyurl.com/3s6fzbrk

Rosy works full-time and picks up extra work, but reduced hours and rising grocery costs make it hard to keep up. At the West End Community Center, she told us, "Prices are going up, but my salary is still the same." The pantry helps her feed her 3 kids each month.

🍕Pizza Marvin's 12 Pies of Christmas kicks off Sunday 12/7 and we're honored to be this year's beneficiary! Each chef-crafted pie celebrates RI's incredible food scene — and 100% of proceeds support neighbors experiencing food insecurity. 💚

The Food Bank is serving more Rhode Islanders than ever before. Your support helps ensure our neighbors have access to the healthy food they deserve. ➡️ Your #GivingTuesday gift goes twice as far today thanks to a $150,000 Matching Gift. Give today: tinyurl.com/bdh6h8fe

We're distributing healthy food to 137 member agencies statewide—pantries, meal sites, and senior programs. Hear from CEO Melissa Cherney and from Rhode Islanders accessing our services. 🍎 Your support makes a real difference. youtu.be/Um9oqUAgXBU

Cheers to outstanding staff & volunteers of Good Neighbors RI for putting together a delicious Thanksgiving feast! Great to join Mayor Bob DaSilva & @rifoodbank.bsky.social CEO Melissa Cherney to help serve up hot meals & a slice of community to neighbors in need.

Food Bank CEO Melissa Cherney spent Thanksgiving Eve serving lunch at Good Neighbors RI with @reed.senate.gov and East Providence Mayor Bob DaSilva. 🦃 Her first Thanksgiving [Eve!] as a Rhode Islander was spent feeding neighbors alongside partners dedicated to ending hunger. 💚

NEWSMAKERS: @rifoodbank.bsky.social CEO Melissa Cherney joins @timwhiteri.bsky.social and me to discuss the record high 100,000 Rhode Islanders seeking food aid a month - even before the recent SNAP crisis Watch online now - tonight/Sunday on 12+ and TV - or get the pod www.wpri.com/news/newsmak...

Food Bank CEO, Melissa Cherney, recently joined @tednesi.bsky.social and @timwhiteri.bsky.social on @wpri12.bsky.social's Newsmakers to discuss food insecurity in RI, what we're seeing across our network, and how community support makes an impact. Watch: www.wpri.com/news/newsmak...

@antoniafarzan.bsky.social of the Providence Journal took the SNAP challenge—living on $6/day—just as SNAP benefits were cut off. "I was returning to my normal, privileged existence, while other people's lives were about to get measurably worse." tinyurl.com/bdh9mz29

Rhode Islanders are feeling the impacts of the shutdown and paused SNAP benefits, and the RI Community Food Bank is doing everything we can to help. Since late October, we've purchased nearly 1M lbs of food for distribution through our 137 member agencies statewide. 🚚

This year's @wpri12.bsky.social Day of Giving was our most successful in its 5yr history! @kimkalunian.bsky.social With matching funds from Washington Trust & Arpin International Group, we raised $233,651 total - funds that will put food on neighbors' tables this holiday season. 🍽️ Thank you.

🚨 TODAY, Thurs. Nov. 13, is @wpri12.bsky.social's Day of Giving to benefit the RI Community Food Bank! 🚨 Tune in anytime to WPRI 12 or visit their website — crews are broadcasting from our warehouse, encouraging generosity from every corner of RI. tinyurl.com/bddb7mj6

Thank you to our friends at Stop & Shop and Garelick Farms for their generous holiday support and year-round partnership! 🥛 Their donation of shelf-stable milk will be available to all of our member agencies.

We're grateful to Mayor Brett Smiley and the City of Providence for standing with the Food Bank and our neighbors during this critical moment. Thank you for visiting us last week to see the work happening firsthand, and for your continued support. Need food or want to help? rifoodbank.org/shutdown

"'How can the Food Bank fill the gap?' We can't," writes RI Community Food Bank CEO Melissa Cherney in today's Providence Journal op-ed. "We don't have enough food or funds to replace the $29M in lost SNAP aid—or another $29M if the shutdown continues." Read more: tinyurl.com/9ex3kwtj

SNAP (food stamps) interruption: @govdanmckee.bsky.social declares state of emergency, mobilizing RI agencies and community organizations to get food to those in need. @peterneronha.bsky.social joins multi-state lawsuit. @rifoodbank.bsky.social deploys resources. motifri.com/snap-emergen...

With SNAP funding halted by the federal shutdown, @govdanmckee.bsky.social declared a State of Emergency + will deploy $6mil in TANF funds to help families with children. It's a crucial step—but many others will still lose food assistance when benefits do not deploy on Nov. 1.

🚨 SNAP BENEFITS HALTED 🚨 Because of the federal government shutdown, SNAP (food assistance) benefits for the month of November are on hold. (🧵) rifoodbank.org/shutdown/

With SNAP benefits set to end Nov. 1, @rifoodbank.bsky.social CEO Melissa Cherney says, "We are in a hunger crisis," and asks for donations to food bank and local food pantries.

As federal food assistance funding hangs in the balance, RI food pantries are bracing for an unprecedented surge in need. Good Neighbors RI & the MLK Center in Newport are already seeing increased need. (🧵) 🗞️ @rhodeislandcurrent.com 📝 @nancyklavin.bsky.social 🔗 tinyurl.com/wccpdka3

Federal shutdown will cut $29M in monthly food assistance benefits for 140,000 Rhode Islanders. By @nancyklavin.bsky.social rhodeislandcurrent.com/2025/10/22/r...

We were pleased to welcome Congressman Gabe Amo, members of his staff, & representatives from our state and community partners to the RI Community Food Bank yesterday for a discussion on the impacts of the ongoing government shutdown, and the importance of strong federal nutrition programs.

A beautiful full-circle moment at the Rhode Island Community Food Bank: The apple trees on our property are bearing fruit this season, just like the apples in our logo. Both are symbols of nourishment, community, and the lasting impact one person can make. 🍎🌳❤️

Cheers to The Guild for hosting our Pints with Purpose kick-off! 🍺 Try Full Bellies Brew, a crisp lager named by contest winner Claire Walker—on tap now! Through Oct. 23, a portion of sales supports the RI Community Food Bank.

Corinne, a single mom & landscaper, works hard to support her family. When seasonal work slows, she turns to St. Mary of the Bay Food Pantry in Warren for help. 🍽️ Read her story in the Food Bank's Fall Impact Report: https://tinyurl.com/y8u2hyuc

Last week marked the first official RI Grown Week! At the kickoff, RI Food Bank CEO Melissa Cherney spoke about how local food systems strengthen food security. So far this year, we've acquired 85% more local produce than last year—hitting our 45% annual target in Q1. 🌱 Get Fresh, Buy Local!

The Food Bank will be closed on Monday, October 13th and will reopen for regularly-scheduled operations on Tuesday, October 14th. If you are in need of immediate assistance, please dial United Way of Rhode Island's 211 hotline.

As part of RI Grown Week 🍎, we offered a tour of the RI Food Bank to our friends at RI DEM today. Together with partners in the food system, we're committed to exploring how local agriculture supports food security, recovery & distribution across Rhode Island.

The food pantry at Connecting for Children & Families in Woonsocket is getting a refresh! With help from Rhode Island School of Design students, new plans unveiled during CEO Melissa Cherney's tour will make the space more welcoming & dignified. The Valley Breeze 🗞️ https://tinyurl.com/6x7wrc8v

We're hiring! 🍎 The RI Community Food Bank is accepting applications for: 👩‍🍳 Production Chef (Community Nutrition team) 🗂️ Donor Database Coordinator (Development team) Make a difference & apply today: https://rifoodbank.org/careers/

Interior Architecture graduate and undergraduate students participated in the annual design charette competition, redesigning Connecting for Children and Families Front Street Family Center www.risd.edu/news/stories...

New interview alert! 🎙️ On Monday, Ocean State Media featured CEO Melissa Cherney on rising food insecurity in RI. She warns: "Our typical way of food-banking … is not going to sustain us into the future." Listen to the full conversation: https://tinyurl.com/55w2bk6v

Last week, RI Community Food Bank CEO, Melissa Cherney, wrapped up a statewide tour of member agency food pantries—from Pawtucket to Newport—meeting with leaders + teams, and seeing firsthand how agencies are adapting to rising demand. (🧵) 📸: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center (Newport)

Front page news! 📰 Yesterday's ProJo featured an article by Antonia Noori Farzan on our new CEO, Melissa Cherney. Last week she toured RI food pantries, seeing rising demand, limited supplies—and creative, dignified solutions in action. Read more: https://tinyurl.com/253bu9fx

Huge congratulations to Melissa Cherney, the new CEO of @rifoodbank.bsky.social. It's inspiring to see the incredible work the Food Bank and its partners, like Good Neighbors RI, do to fight hunger in our state. Wishing her the best of luck in her new role. www.eastbayri.com/east-provide...

A new Rhode Island Kids Count report sheds light on ongoing economic and health disparities facing children of color in Rhode Island. Let's work together to address these inequalities. pbn.com/kids-count-e...

🍲 Join us for the highly anticipated return of Empty Bowls! Your ticket grants you tastings from 30+ restaurants and a hand-made artisan bowl - all while helping to fill the empty bowls in our community. Tickets are going fast, so grab yours now with early bird pricing!

Rhode Island pioneers a groundbreaking SNAP program, the first of its kind, boosting benefits for fresh fruits and vegetables. This is a significant step toward healthier communities in RI. www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/23/m...

“We say that the rent eats first. Then as the month goes on, even households with SNAP benefits find that they are using up their benefits more quickly because of the high price of food.” says Food Bank CEO Andrew Schiff.

Rep Justine Caldwell and Senator Bridget Valverde understand kids need proper nutrition to learn & grow. We appreciate their leadership in advocating for Healthy School Meals for ALL. Hear what they had to say during a recent legislative visit to Pat's Pastured. ritv.devosvideo.com/show?video=2...

The Food Bank is hiring! 👇 Visit the link in our bio to see the full job description and learn more about our open positions. We can't wait to meet you!