Where to find free food in Seattle and the rest of King County
Around Seattle, the neighborhood organizations that hand out free groceries call themselves food banks. This page covers the places that people can turn to for food - broken up by various parts of the county. As nearly every community in King County has at least one - over thirty in Seattle alone, five Hopelink markets covering the Eastside and north county, and a network of sixteen more across the south end from Kent and Auburn to Vashon Island.
The biggest names include Northwest Harvest's SODO Community Market, a free grocery store open to anyone with no questions asked, the Ballard Food Bank, the University District Food Bank, and the Multi-Service Center in Federal Way. Most of these operate like small grocery stores where you pick your own food, many deliver to homebound neighbors, and a number ask for no ID or paperwork at all - though a few serve specific zip codes, so it pays to check. Meals on Wheels, Basic Food (Washington's version of food stamps), WIC, and hot meal programs are all covered below as well.
- NOTE: Days and hours change constantly at food banks, so always call or check before making the trip.
Programs that cover the whole county
Northwest Harvest – SODO Community Market
1915 4th Avenue S, Seattle, WA 98134
(206) 625-0755
https://www.northwestharvest.org/
Northwest Harvest is Washington's statewide hunger relief organization, and its SODO Community Market is the closest thing King County has to a completely free grocery store. Anyone can shop - no ID, no proof of income, no address required, no limit on which neighborhood you come from. The market is generally open several days a week, often including some evening hours, and it replaced the old Cherry Street Food Bank on First Hill, which closed permanently.
Food Lifeline
815 S 96th Street, Seattle, WA 98108
(206) 545-6600
https://foodlifeline.org/
Food Lifeline is the Feeding America member for Western Washington, moving millions of pounds of food each year to roughly three hundred partner food banks, shelters, and meal programs - including most of the ones on this page. Food is not distributed to the public from its South Park warehouse, but its website has a find-food map covering every corner of the county, which is useful if nothing listed here is close to you.
Sound Generations – Meals on Wheels and Community Dining
2208 2nd Avenue, Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 448-3110
https://soundgenerations.org/
Sound Generations runs the largest and longest-operating Meals on Wheels program in Washington, delivering a week's worth of frozen meals at a time to homebound King County residents age 60 and older, with vegetarian, kosher, and other diet options. Meals are contribution-based and nobody is refused for inability to pay; EBT can even be used toward the suggested donation. The same nonprofit hosts Community Dining sites around the county where seniors typically share a hot lunch several days a week for a small suggested donation.
Basic Food – Washington's SNAP food benefits
Apply online at https://www.washingtonconnection.org/home/ or call DSHS at (877) 501-2233
Basic Food loads a monthly grocery benefit onto an EBT card accepted at supermarkets and at farmers markets, where SNAP Market Match programs typically double what you spend on produce. Washington also runs a state-funded version for legal immigrants who don't qualify for federal SNAP because of their status, so it is worth applying even if you assume you're ineligible. Applications can be finished online, by phone, or at a DSHS community services office, followed by a short interview.
WIC – Public Health, Seattle and King County
(206) 263-9300 for an appointment at a clinic near you
WIC adds roughly $150 a month in healthy food benefits for a typical family of two, along with nutrition help and breastfeeding support, for pregnant women and children under five. Families already on Basic Food, Medicaid, or TANF automatically meet the income test. Public Health offers WIC at locations across the county, and home or off-site visits can generally be arranged.
Lifelong – Chicken Soup Brigade
4634 E Marginal Way S, Suite C200, Seattle, WA 98134
(206) 957-1600
Chicken Soup Brigade is different from a walk-in food bank: it delivers medically tailored meals and grocery bags to people living with serious or chronic illness who have trouble shopping or cooking, across King County and beyond. Enrollment is required and often comes through a referral, so start with a phone call.
Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle and King County
851 Houser Way N, Suite A, Renton, WA 98057
(425) 277-0300
This long-running Renton-based nonprofit packs nutritionally balanced emergency food bags - including culturally specific packs - and distributes them through partner sites all over the county rather than from one central pantry. Call to be pointed to the nearest pickup location; availability varies by site.
Downtown Seattle and the central neighborhoods
Pike Market Food Bank
1531 Western Avenue, Level 5 of the Pike Place Market parking garage, Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 626-6462
Hidden five floors down in the Pike Place parking garage - take the elevator from Western Avenue - this farmstand-style food bank serves the downtown zip codes plus anyone experiencing homelessness or an urgent need. Day-old bread and produce from the Market itself often ends up on the shelves, and no-cook bags are kept for people without kitchens.
Byrd Barr Place
722 18th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 812-4940
The Central District's food bank has operated from the old Firehouse 23 since the 1960s, formerly under the name Central Area Motivation Program (CAMP). It runs a market-style pantry and delivers groceries to homebound neighbors in the central zip codes, with volunteers who bike deliveries to people who can't come in.
The Food Bank @ St. Mary's
611 20th Avenue S, Seattle, WA 98144
(206) 338-7215
St. Mary's welcomes anyone living in Seattle, no zip code restrictions, from its warehouse near Judkins Park. Beyond walk-in grocery service it runs one of the city's larger home delivery operations for seniors and disabled residents, and hygiene items and baby supplies are often available.
Jewish Family Service – Polack Food Bank
1601 16th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 461-3240
The Polack Food Bank on Capitol Hill is open to everyone regardless of faith and runs on a consumer-choice model where you pick what your household actually eats. It is one of the few places in the county stocking kosher food, and it also offers no-cook bags, pet food, baby supplies, and home delivery to nearby downtown and Capitol Hill zip codes.
El Centro de la Raza
2524 16th Avenue S, Seattle, WA 98144
(206) 329-7960
Beacon Hill's Latino civil rights organization runs a bilingual food bank open to all, with staples that reflect the neighborhood - beans, rice, masa, cooking oil - alongside fresh food. Bring an ID, and ask about baby and toddler supplies and senior grocery delivery.
Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) Food Bank
3639 Martin Luther King Jr Way S, Seattle, WA 98108
(206) 695-7600
ACRS operates the only food bank in the region built around Asian food staples - rice, noodles, tofu, fresh vegetables, and culturally familiar proteins - and serves everyone, with a particular focus on Asian and Pacific Islander elders. Distribution typically happens a couple of days a week from its Rainier Valley headquarters, and grocery delivery reaches many isolated seniors.
Seattle Indian Center
624 S Dearborn Street, Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 329-8700
Now located near the Chinatown-International District, the Seattle Indian Center focuses on American Indian and Alaska Native community members but turns nobody away. Hot breakfast and lunch are generally served on weekdays alongside a food bank, hygiene supplies, and a drop-in center.
Immanuel Community Services
1215 Thomas Street, Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 622-1930
This small South Lake Union food bank serves anyone from anywhere in the county with no boundaries, an unusual policy for a church-based pantry in the city core. A free community lunch is typically offered once a month.
Queen Anne Food Bank at Sacred Heart
232 Warren Avenue N, Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 216-4102
Most weekday mornings this Lower Queen Anne program hands out sack lunches, hot soup, and coffee to anyone who walks up - no ID, no questions - and one day a week it typically operates as a grocery pantry for the downtown, Belltown, and Queen Anne zip codes. Home delivery can be arranged for homebound neighbors nearby.
The Salvation Army in King County
Seattle: 1101 Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98101 – (206) 447-9944
Renton: 720 S Tobin Street, Renton, WA 98057 – (425) 255-5974
Salvation Army corps community centers act as food banks in several parts of the county. The downtown Seattle center runs a pantry generally open a few days a week, while the Renton corps - which serves as that city's main food bank - typically pairs its weekday pantry with an early-evening community dinner. Holiday food baskets are a specialty at both. More detail is on the NHPB Seattle Salvation Army guide page.
Operation Sack Lunch
210 Alaskan Way S, Seattle, WA 98104
OSL has served free outdoor meals on the downtown waterfront for decades, typically at midday most days of the week, with no sign-up, ID, or questions of any kind - you simply show up and eat. It is often the fastest hot meal in the city for someone with nothing.
A few other central Seattle pantries are worth knowing by name even though they keep smaller footprints: the YWCA Central Area food bank on E Cherry Street typically opens for shopping one day a week, and the Puget Sound Labor Agency food bank in SODO, once limited to union families, now generally serves anyone.
North Seattle
University District Food Bank
5017 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 523-7060
https://www.udistrictfoodbank.org/
One of the busiest food banks in the city, UDFB serves the northeast Seattle zip codes from a modern building topped with its own rooftop farm, whose produce goes straight downstairs to the shelves. Grocery-style shopping typically runs several days a week including evening hours, packed lunches are kept by the door for people who can't wait, and a weekend backpack program feeds schoolkids. Note the address: the food bank moved to Roosevelt Way years ago from its old NE 50th Street location.
Ballard Food Bank
1400 NW Leary Way, Seattle, WA 98107
(206) 789-7800
https://www.ballardfoodbank.org/
Ballard's 'hub of hope' is open to anyone living in Seattle and works like a small grocery store, with a twist found almost nowhere else: an in-house Kindness Cafe that typically serves a free hot meal during open hours. The building also offers mail service for people without an address, help with ORCA transit cards, and home delivery plus weekend food for kids across the northwest Seattle zip codes.
FamilyWorks food banks – Wallingford and Greenwood
Wallingford: 1501 N 45th Street, Seattle, WA 98103 – (206) 647-1770
Greenwood: 9501 Greenwood Avenue N, Seattle, WA 98103 – (206) 783-1225
FamilyWorks pairs its two north-end food banks with family resource centers, so a grocery visit can turn into help with diapers, parenting support, or benefits enrollment. Anyone may shop at either site, and home delivery generally covers North Seattle.
North Helpline – Lake City and Bitter Lake
Lake City: 12736 33rd Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98125
Food bank line: (206) 367-3477
North Helpline's food banks in Lake City and Bitter Lake anchor the far north end of the city, serving the northern Seattle, Shoreline, Bothell, and Kenmore zip codes - though they state plainly that nobody who shows up hungry is turned away. No-cook bags and baby supplies are stocked, and the same organization offers emergency rent and utility help.
Smaller neighborhood options in the north end include the Phinney Ridge food bank at the Lutheran church on Greenwood Avenue N, The Giving Room at Epic Life Church near Northgate, and the Blessed Sacrament parish pantry in the University District, which typically pairs food with a Sunday meal.
South Seattle, West Seattle, and White Center
Rainier Valley Food Bank
9021 Rainier Avenue S, Seattle, WA 98118
(206) 723-4105
Serving one of the most diverse zip codes in America, RVFB stocks its shelves to match - halal options, culturally specific produce, and staples from many cuisines - and welcomes anyone regardless of address. Distribution generally runs on weekdays, no-cook bags are available for unsheltered neighbors, and a weekly home delivery route reaches registered homebound clients.
West Seattle Food Bank
3419 SW Morgan Street, Seattle, WA 98126
(206) 932-9023
The peninsula's food bank offers market-style shopping open to all, backed by a mobile food bank that brings groceries to apartment buildings and senior housing around West Seattle, plus home delivery for those who can't travel. Holiday food baskets are a long tradition here.
White Center Food Bank
10016 16th Avenue SW, Seattle, WA 98146
(206) 762-2848
After decades on 8th Avenue, White Center's food bank moved a few blocks to a larger home on 16th Avenue SW - update your records if you knew the old address. Appointments are preferred but walk-ins are welcomed, and the organization runs a mobile food bank, home delivery, a community garden, and a well-stocked baby corner for one of the county's most international neighborhoods.
St. Vincent de Paul food bank
5972 4th Avenue S, Seattle, WA 98108
(206) 686-5260
SVdP's Georgetown food bank serves anyone from any part of the county out of its Aurora-of-the-south warehouse district location, with baby and toddler supplies when donations allow. The society's helpline can also connect visitors with its other assistance programs.
Providence Regina House
8201 10th Avenue S, Seattle, WA 98108
(206) 763-9204
Regina House quietly covers South Park plus the SeaTac and Tukwila-adjacent zip codes 98108, 98148, 98168, and 98188 - a stretch with few other options. Groceries, baby and toddler supplies, and USDA commodity foods are typically distributed a few days a week.
Also in this part of the city: Cultivate South Park runs culturally relevant food distribution with home delivery and special-diet accommodations for Seattle and south county families, and the Paradise of Praise food bank on SW Holden Street typically allows a grocery visit once a week.
The Eastside, Shoreline, and the Hopelink markets
Hopelink food markets
Bellevue: 14812 Main Street – (425) 943-7555
Kirkland/Northshore: 11011 120th Avenue NE, Kirkland – (425) 889-7880
Redmond: 8990 154th Avenue NE – (425) 882-0241
Shoreline: 17837 Aurora Avenue N – (206) 440-7300
Sno-Valley: 31957 E Commercial Street, Carnation – (425) 333-4163
https://www.hopelink.org/
Hopelink is the dominant food provider for east and north King County, running five grocery-store-style markets where enrolled shoppers pick their own fresh, frozen, and shelf-stable food at no cost, typically up to twice a month. Enrollment is a one-time form - online, by phone, or in person - renewed yearly, and a mobile market truck reaches communities between the fixed sites. Note that two of the centers have moved in recent years: Kirkland/Northshore is now at Totem Lake on 120th Avenue NE, and Redmond is at a newer campus on 154th Avenue NE.
Renewal Food Bank
15022 NE Bel-Red Road, Bellevue, WA 98007
(425) 736-8132
Operating from Highland Covenant Church in the Bel-Red corridor, Renewal is Bellevue's grocery-style alternative to Hopelink, running on an honor system with no proof of need required - just bring an ID and proof of address. Evening hours are typically available at least one day a week, which working families appreciate, and pet food and baby supplies often appear on the shelves.
Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank
179 1st Avenue SE, Issaquah, WA 98027
(425) 392-4123
The food side of this longtime Issaquah institution serves families from Issaquah, the Sammamish plateau, and surrounding communities with produce, dairy, frozen and halal meats, and baby essentials like diapers and formula. Shopping hours typically include afternoons into the early evening a few days a week.
South King County, from Kent and Auburn to Vashon Island
The south end has the county's highest need and its own coalition of sixteen food pantries. The largest are below; Renton's main food bank operates from the Salvation Army corps listed earlier on this page.
Kent Food Bank and Emergency Services
515 W Harrison Street, Suite 107, Kent, WA 98032
(253) 520-3550
Kent's food bank distributes groceries, produce, and occasionally pet food and baby items from its downtown location, generally a few days each week. Limited emergency financial help has historically been part of its mission as well, which is unusual for a pantry this size.
The Auburn Food Bank
2804 Auburn Way N, Auburn, WA 98002
(253) 833-8925
Auburn's food bank moved to a much larger building on Auburn Way N, so ignore any older references to 18th Place NE. Households in the Auburn school district area - which reaches into Algona and Pacific - can typically shop multiple times a month, and senior grocery deliveries generally go out around once a month.
Multi-Service Center – Federal Way food bank
1200 S 336th Street, Federal Way, WA 98003
(253) 838-6810
https://mschelps.org/
The Multi-Service Center is Federal Way's community action hub, and its food bank is the anchor for the city and nearby unincorporated areas. Because it houses many programs under one roof, a food visit can also open the door to energy assistance and other help - though the food bank itself asks only basic information.
Des Moines Area Food Bank
22225 9th Avenue S, Des Moines, WA 98198
(206) 878-2660
Housed at the United Methodist Church near the Des Moines marina, this food bank covers Des Moines, SeaTac, and the west hill of Kent. Morning distributions typically run several days a week, and volunteers are known for sending families home with genuinely full carts.
Highline Area Food Bank
18300 4th Avenue S, Burien, WA 98148
(206) 433-9900
Serving Burien and the Highline communities, this food bank grows some of its own produce in an on-site garden and typically allows two shopping visits a month, with a line that generally includes dairy, eggs, meats, and fresh vegetables rather than canned goods alone.
Tukwila Pantry
3118 S 140th Street, Tukwila, WA 98168
(206) 431-8293
Based at Riverton Park United Methodist Church, the Tukwila Pantry serves the Tukwila, SeaTac, Burien, and Boulevard Park areas, with distribution days that typically include a weekend option - rare among south county pantries. Drive-up service is often available, with volunteers loading groceries directly into cars.
Maple Valley Food Bank and Emergency Services
21415 SE Renton-Maple Valley Road, Maple Valley, WA 98038
(425) 600-6832
Families from Maple Valley, Covington, Black Diamond, Hobart, Ravensdale, and the rest of the Tahoma school district use this food bank, which typically opens a couple of days a week including some later hours. Holiday programs and limited emergency assistance round out the food work.
Plateau Outreach Ministries food bank – Enumclaw
1720� Wells Street, Enumclaw, WA 98022
(360) 825-6188
The Enumclaw plateau's food bank - once the Kiwanis food bank on Cole Street - now operates under Plateau Outreach Ministries at its Wells Street location, generally opening several mornings a week with a once-a-week visit limit. It is the main grocery resource for Enumclaw and the surrounding rural plateau.
Vashon Maury Community Food Bank
17928 Vashon Highway SW, Vashon, WA 98070
(206) 463-6332
The island's food bank relocated to a visible spot right on Vashon Highway, where registered households can typically shop weekly or have groceries delivered anywhere on Vashon and Maury. Much of the produce comes straight from island farms, and registration takes only a few minutes in the office.
The Snoqualmie Valley and rural east county
Snoqualmie Valley Food Bank
122 E 3rd Street, North Bend, WA 98045
(425) 888-7832
This is the valley's food bank, covering North Bend, Snoqualmie, Fall City, and Preston with grocery-style shopping typically available a few days a week, often including one later-evening option for commuters. It replaced the old Mount Si Helping Hand food bank years ago, so disregard older listings pointing to the church on SE Park Street. Farther down the valley, Carnation and Duvall residents are served by Hopelink's Sno-Valley market listed above.
Finding the smaller pantries and other food help
Dozens of smaller church and community pantries operate beyond this list, and two coalition websites map nearly all of them with current details: the Seattle Food Committee at https://www.seattlefoodcommittee.org/find-a-food-bank/ covers every food bank inside the city, and the South King County Food Coalition at https://skcfc.org/ covers the sixteen pantries south of Seattle. Families with children should also know that every school district in the county offers free or reduced-price school meals, with free summer meal sites in most communities when school is out. If nothing here fits, dialing 2-1-1 reaches a Washington referral specialist who can search for newer or smaller programs.
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