Share Food Resources

Oklahoma is hungry and resources are available to help.

Libraries are natural places to identify needs and connect people to food resources.

Share Food Resources

Learn about three key resources that libraries can share. Select a topic below to read more.

Oklahoma Food Resources Menu

Help community members easily connect to food assistance by sharing the Oklahoma Food Resources menu.

Here’s how it works:

OK Food Resources Menu from Hunger Free Oklahoma.

Ways to share this important information with your community:

Place Oklahoma Food Resources posters in high-traffic areas
Mention on social media
Download, print, and/or share this letter-sized flyer
Tell friends, family, and patrons about Oklahoma Food Resources by sharing: bit.ly/FoodResourcesOK

To request Oklahoma Food Resources promotional material, click here.

SNAP Hotline 1 (877) 760-0114

In partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Hunger Free Oklahoma offers a toll-free hotline where people can get help applying for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. Calls take about 30 minutes. Assistance is available in multiple languages.

Here’s how it works:

HFO SNAP Hotline from Hunger Free Oklahoma.

Ways to share this important information with your community:

Request and share SNAP bookmarks and rack cards
Use this sample social media content on your website and social media pages: English graphic and Spanish graphic
Share SNAP flyers with patrons, partners, staff, and volunteers
Tell friends, family, and patrons about SNAP by sharing hungerfreeok.org/groceries

For more ideas, Easy Ways to Share SNAP offers suggestions and social media prompts.

To request SNAP promotional material, click here.

Ready to take the next step? See Expand Services section to learn more about Hunger Free Oklahoma’s virtual training to offer SNAP application assistance at your library.

Meals4KidsOK Meal Map Tool

In partnership with the Oklahoma State Department of Education, Hunger Free Oklahoma offers a mapping tool to help families locate free summer and afterschool meals for children and teens.

During the pandemic, the mapping tool has been expanded to include school serving information.

By visiting www.Meals4KidsOK.org, families can quickly and easily find meal site information like the nearest location, serving times, and special instructions. This tool is the most up-to-date child and teen meal site locator in the state.

Here’s how it works:

Meals4KidsOKorg Meal Map Demonstration from Hunger Free Oklahoma.

Ways to share this important information with your community:

Place Food For Thought OK posters in high-traffic areas
Share Food For Thought OK bookmarks
Use sample social media material and additional resources on your website and social media pages
Tell friends, families, and patrons that summer meals are open to all children and teens and finding a site is easy with Meals4KidsOK.org

For more ideas, Food For Thought OK Resources offers downloadable PDFs, social media graphics, and more.

To request Food For Thought OK promotional material, click here.

To help feed more children and teens during the pandemic, USDA waivers are in place through Sept. 30, 2021, which expand the places and ways that summer meals can be served. If you are interested in serving snacks or meals in your area see Expand Services section to learn more.

Organizations like libraries serve as “bridges” to resources and helpful services. See Bridges to Grocery Assistance for more information about sharing food resources in your area.

Stay Connected!

You can join other libraries that are improving local food security by:

Completing the “Hunger-Fighter Profile” to connect to this important work.
Elevating local hunger issues, needs, and challenges within your networks.
Sharing tips, suggestions, and ideas about how to improve food security in your community.
Asking questions and talking about possible solutions. Connect with a Hunger Free Oklahoma Hunger Outreach Specialist to discuss your community’s needs.
Elevating hunger solutions through peer networks and professional conversations.
Visiting this page regularly for additional information and ideas.
Following Hunger Free Oklahoma on social media. Find us on Facebook and Twitter @hungerfreeok.
Joining the conversation. Share what you think about hunger-fighting material, messaging, and strategies.

Learn more about hunger: hungerfreeok.org/theissueoklahomaishungry

Read more about solutions: hungerfreeok.org/the-solutions

“When we all work together, we are better able to address the needs of the community as a whole.”

– Muskogee Public Library

“Libraries are increasingly becoming a part of this huge need. It takes everyone.”

– Duncan Public Library

Promote Partnerships

“These connections bring in new patrons and provide additional enrichment opportunities.”

– El Reno Carnegie Library

“Building and cultivating strong community partnerships is vital to the library’s ability to reach the community in all areas.”

– Altus Public Library

Libraries are uniquely positioned to promote partnerships and learning.

Here are the Ways Libraries are Partnering to End Hunger:

Sharing food resource information in-house and among local contacts.
Providing programming for local meal sites.
Working with schools, tribal nations, and food banks to offer on-site meals* after school and in the summer.
Building Hunger Free Communities and advocating for year-round meal coordination.
Offering Bridges to Grocery Assistance.

Examples of Library-Community Partners in Oklahoma

Civic Organizations (friends of libraries, historical societies, rotary clubs)
County Organizations (county health departments, extension offices, local Master Gardeners)
Emergency Food System (food banks, food pantries)
Faith-Based (churches, ministerial alliances, youth programs)
Local Business Groups (banks, chambers of commerce, convenience stores, grocers, restaurants)
Municipalities (city park and recreation departments)
Public Schools (child nutrition departments, summer school programs)
Tribal Nations (find tribal nations in your area)

Examples of Types of Library-Community Partnerships

Food* (summer and afterschool meal sponsorships, food donations/drives)
Promotion (advertising, social media, PSA, marketing, prizes)
Programming (performers, volunteers, activity leaders, demonstrations)
Space and storage (freezer and refrigeration, dry-good storage)
Supplies (craft material, bags, bookmarks, posters)
Transportation (buses, vans, car seats)

Do you partner locally to improve hunger? See the Stay Connected section to share your partner experiences and tips.

*To help feed more children and teens during the pandemic, USDA waivers are in place through Sept. 30, 2021, which expand the places and ways that summer meals can be served. If you are interested in serving snacks or meals in your area, see Expand Services section to learn more.

Expand Services

Bringing additional services to your community is a great way for libraries to protect and preserve local food security.

Here are some impactful ways that Oklahoma libraries are expanding services to fight hunger:

Offering SNAP Application Assistance

SNAP is proven to improve food security but it is underutilized in Oklahoma partly due to lack of awareness, stigma, and challenges around applying. Libraries can help with all three. Libraries are a trusted source of information and provide a safe, convenient, judgment-free zone.

In addition to sharing information and telling people about the toll-free SNAP Hotline, library staff and other community partners are getting trained to assist patrons with SNAP applications.

Hunger Free Oklahoma, in partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, offers free virtual trainings on helping others complete SNAP applications. Trainings take about two hours. For more information, or to request training, click here.

Do you assist with SNAP applications? See the Stay Connected section to share your experiences and tips.

Serving Food After School and in Summer

In Oklahoma, around 60% of school-aged children qualify for free and reduced meals at school, yet only around 6% are able to access out-of-school meals like summer and afterschool snacks and suppers. This is partly due to lack of awareness, access, and availability. Many summer meal programs only operate during summer school or June. Some counties only have one site. Others have none. Oklahoma libraries are filling the gap.

Libraries make great sites for feeding children.

To learn more about connecting with a summer or afterschool meals sponsor, or serving meals and snacks to children 18 and under in your community, click here.

A message to libraries from the Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction:

Do you serve summer or afterschool meals? See the Stay Connected section to share your experiences and tips.

USDA Waivers
Through USDA’s summer meals program, schools and community organizations can serve reimbursable meals to children and teens ages 18 and under. By providing no-cost meals to children in the community they help improve food security, prevent learning loss while school is out of session, and provide a safe place for kids in the summer.

Currently, school districts and community organizations that participate in the Summer Meals program have more flexibility to serve meals to children and teens as a result of COVID-19 waivers.

Through these waivers, which extend through September 30, 2021, Summer Meals sites are permitted to:

Allow parents to pick-up meals to take home to children;
Provide meals to kids outside of a congregate setting, distributing grab-and-go style if preferred;
Be located in all areas of the state and are not restricted to locations in which at least half the children qualify for free and reduced-price meals at school; and
Serve meals outside of standard meal times and serve meals for multiple days.

“I remember asking my director one day, ‘How many children do you think we need to serve to make our program worth the effort?’ Her reply, ‘One, it might just be one but it might just be the one that truly needs us.’”

– Public Library of Enid and Garfield County

“Libraries are natural, yet underutilized, spaces for serving meals to children whose access to lunch disappears when school ends and summer begins.”

– Virginia Library System

Summer Reading Program Resources

– Ending Child Hunger at Your Library, State Library of Ohio

“Summer reading programs have long been a pillar of libraries’ literacy support for young patrons. But hungry kids don’t read. They can become trapped in a cycle of poor school performance and ill health that can have lifelong literacy and learning consequences.”