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How to get free food from a pantry, food bank or government program in Kentucky.
Kentucky's 120 counties are divided among a group of regional food banks, and three of them are headquartered across state lines — in Evansville, Cincinnati, and Huntington — because the metro areas along Kentucky's borders spill into Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia. The two largest, God's Pantry Food Bank in Lexington and Feeding America, Kentucky's Heartland in Elizabethtown, divide most of the state between them. This page lists each food bank with the Kentucky counties it covers, links to pantry pages for the state's larger cities and counties, and explains how to apply for SNAP and other food programs.
The food banks are warehouses. The places that hand food directly to households are the local pantries, church programs, and soup kitchens they supply. Most pantries ask only for basic information, such as how many people live in the household, and soup kitchens generally serve anyone who comes in. Kentuckians also post about pantries and food programs on this site's moderated forum on Kentucky food assistance programs, where you can read what worked for other people in the state, ask a question, or share a recommendation of your own.
Pantry listings for Kentucky cities and counties
The pages below list individual food pantries and meal programs, with addresses and phone numbers, for the larger cities and counties in Kentucky. Contact a pantry directly before visiting, since distribution days and intake rules are set locally.
Boone and Grant County
Bullitt, Nelson, Spencer County area
Daviess County
Jefferson County including Louisville food banks
Kenton County
Lexington-Fayette County
Oldham and Shelby County
Warren County
The regional food banks that supply Kentucky's pantries
Each food bank below covers a set territory and supplies the pantries, meal sites, school programs, and senior programs in those counties. The counties listed under each entry are the Kentucky counties that organization serves. If you are not sure which food bank covers your county, Feeding Kentucky's county-by-county finder at feedingky.org can tell you.
Louisville and north central Kentucky
Dare to Care Food Bank
Dare to Care supplies more than 300 partner pantries, shelters, and emergency kitchens across the Louisville metro area and the counties along the Ohio River to its northeast, plus five counties in southern Indiana. Programs include Kids Cafe evening meals for children, monthly senior food boxes through the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, mobile pantry distributions, and cooking and nutrition classes. Call the main number for a referral to a pantry in any of its counties. See https://daretocare.org/.
- Address: 5803 Fern Valley Road, Louisville, KY 40228. Phone: (502) 966-3821. Kentucky counties served: Bullitt, Carroll, Henry, Jefferson, Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, Trimble
Central and eastern Kentucky
God's Pantry Food Bank
God's Pantry Food Bank covers 50 counties — the entire central and eastern half of the state, from the Bluegrass region through the Appalachian counties along the Virginia line. It supplies more than 500 partner pantries and meal programs, runs five of its own pantries in Fayette County, and operates distribution centers in London, Morehead, and Prestonsburg that serve the southeastern and mountain counties. Other programs include mobile produce distributions, senior food boxes, and help applying for SNAP. Fayette County residents can call the intake line at (859) 259-2308 for a pantry referral; residents of the other counties can contact any partner pantry directly or use the locator on the food bank's website. See https://www.godspantry.org/.
- Address: 2201 Innovation Drive, Lexington, KY 40511. Phone: (859) 255-6592 with other sites at London distribution center: 1215 East 4th Street, London, KY 40741, the Morehead distribution center: 100 Carolyn Ingram Drive, Morehead, KY 40351 and also Prestonsburg distribution center: 65 Resource Drive, Prestonsburg, KY 41653.
- Counties served: Anderson, Bath, Bell, Bourbon, Boyle, Breathitt, Carter, Clark, Clay, Elliott, Estill, Fayette, Fleming, Floyd, Franklin, Garrard, Harlan, Harrison, Jackson, Jessamine, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Laurel, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Lincoln, Madison, Magoffin, Martin, McCreary, Menifee, Mercer, Montgomery, Morgan, Nicholas, Owsley, Perry, Pike, Powell, Pulaski, Robertson, Rockcastle, Rowan, Scott, Whitley, Wolfe, Woodford
Facing Hunger Foodbank
The far northeastern corner of Kentucky, including Ashland and the counties along the Big Sandy River, is served by Facing Hunger Foodbank, a Feeding America member headquartered in Huntington, West Virginia. It supplies partner pantries in its Kentucky counties and runs drive-through mobile pantry distributions, senior food boxes, a weekend BackPack program for schoolchildren, and SNAP application help. Martin County households can also turn to God's Pantry Food Bank, since both organizations work there. See https://facinghunger.org/.
- Address: 1327 Seventh Avenue, Huntington, WV 25701. Phone: (304) 523-6029. Kentucky counties served: Boyd, Greenup, Lawrence, Martin
Western and south central Kentucky
Feeding America, Kentucky's Heartland
Feeding America, Kentucky's Heartland covers 42 counties across central, south central, and western Kentucky — the largest territory of any food bank in the state by county count. From its Elizabethtown warehouses it supplies roughly 250 partner pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters, and runs a weekend BackPack program for students, monthly senior food boxes, mobile distributions, and SNAP outreach. In the eight far-western Jackson Purchase counties, distribution is handled through the Purchase Area Development District Food Bank in Mayfield, a partner agency and Feeding Kentucky member. See https://feedingamericaky.org/.
- Address: 313 Peterson Drive, Elizabethtown, KY 42701. Phone: (270) 769-6997 as well as Purchase Area Development District Food Bank: 1002 Medical Drive, Mayfield, KY 42066 — (270) 247-7171. Counties served: Adair, Allen, Ballard, Barren, Breckinridge, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Casey, Christian, Clinton, Cumberland, Edmonson, Fulton, Graves, Grayson, Green, Hancock, Hardin, Hart, Hickman, LaRue, Logan, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, McCracken, Meade, Metcalfe, Monroe, Muhlenberg, Nelson, Ohio, Russell, Simpson, Taylor, Todd, Trigg, Warren, Washington, Wayne
Tri-State Food Bank
Tri-State Food Bank, based in Evansville, Indiana, serves the Kentucky counties along and near the lower Ohio River, including the Owensboro, Henderson, and Madisonville areas. It supplies partner pantries and feeding programs throughout its territory, distributes USDA commodities, sends weekend food home with schoolchildren through a BackPack program, and runs regular mobile distributions of groceries and produce at Kentucky sites. Its territory also extends into southwest Indiana and southern Illinois. See https://www.tristatefoodbank.org/.
- Address: 2504 Lynch Road, Evansville, IN 47711. Phone: (812) 425-0775. Kentucky counties served: Crittenden, Daviess, Henderson, Hopkins, Livingston, McLean, Union, Webster
Northern Kentucky
Freestore Foodbank
The nine northern Kentucky counties across the river from Cincinnati are served by Freestore Foodbank, one of the region's largest food banks, which supplies hundreds of partner agencies across Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. It operates a distribution center in Wilder, Kentucky, grows produce for its pantries at the Giving Fields community farm in Melbourne, Kentucky, and runs choice-style free grocery markets, school pantries, weekend Power Packs for students, senior food boxes, and an infant formula and diaper program. Its benefits call center at (513) 381-7627 helps households apply for SNAP. See https://freestorefoodbank.org/.
- Address: 3401 Rosenthal Way, Cincinnati, OH 45204. Phone: (513) 482-4500. Customer Connection Center: 112 E. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202 — (513) 241-1064. Kentucky counties served: Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, Mason, Owen, Pendleton
SNAP and other food programs available statewide
SNAP is Kentucky's largest food assistance program, providing a monthly grocery benefit on an EBT card. Applications go through the state's kynect portal at https://www.kynect.ky.gov/, by phone at 1-855-306-8959, or in person at any Department for Community Based Services office. Households with almost no income or cash on hand may qualify for expedited SNAP, with benefits issued within days instead of weeks.
Feeding Kentucky, the statewide association of the food banks on this page and at https://feedingky.org/, can complete a SNAP application with you over the phone at no cost, and its website has a county-by-county finder for pantries and meal programs anywhere in the state.
Several other programs put food on the table for specific groups. Kentucky Double Dollars (website: https://kentuckydoubledollars.org/) matches SNAP spending on Kentucky-grown food at participating farmers markets and stores, so each benefit dollar buys twice the produce.
WIC provides food, formula, and nutrition support for pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children under five through local health departments.
Low-income Kentuckians age 60 an over can receive a monthly food box through the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, distributed by the regional food banks above.
During summer break, kids and teens 18 and under can eat free at summer meal sites across the state, and eligible school-age children can receive a summer grocery benefit through Summer EBT — Feeding Kentucky's website lists both.
Homebound seniors and adults with disabilities can get home-delivered meals through Meals on Wheels programs run by Kentucky's Area Development Districts and their Area Agencies on Aging, which cover every county.
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