Media & Press Releases

Keep up to date on free essential food and community services by reading our Press Release or media coverage.

IN THE NEWS:

Free groceries to be distributed twice a month at McKinley Elementary in North Long Beach

September 26th, 2023 - Staff Report, Signal Tribune

The local non-profit organization Help Me Help You opened its 11th grocery distribution location at McKinley Elementary on Sept. 22.

During the event, residents in need received free nutritious groceries, school supplies, sweets, and enrollment assistance for essential community services.

For a Good Cause: Help Me Help You provides groceries, resources to Long Beach community

August 3rd, 2023 - Christina Merrino, Reporter, Press-Telegram Helping uplift the community is what this nonprofit is all about — hence the name.

Help Me Help You, which was established in 2004, is dedicated to increasing access to food, public benefits, and wellness education for those who are underserved in the Long Beach area, including people and families who are homeless and low-income, seniors, people with disabilities, single mothers, veterans and youth.

Help Me Help You kicks off bimonthly free grocery event at McKinley Elementary School

February 23rd, 2023 - Tess Kazenoff , Journalist, Long Beach Post

Help Me Help You is launching its “Nutrition Knights Grocery Grab N Go” service to 9th District residents in need at McKinley Elementary School on Friday, Feb. 24, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. The new location at McKinley Elementary School, located at 6822 Paramount Blvd. (entrance at Main Street), will operate every second and fourth Friday. It’s meant to meet increasing need due to inflation rates and rising food prices, according to a statement.

Help Me Help needs a helping hand from the community

February 7th, 2023 - Samantha Diaz, Managing Director, Signal Tribune

Twice a month, over 500 seniors in Long Beach are greeted with smiling, masked faces from volunteers bringing fresh, free, ready-to-cook groceries straight to their doorstep. The seniors, most of them from low-income areas in Long Beach, are also offered help navigating various programs they might qualify for—CalFresh, Social Security, Medi-Cal, General Relief, credit recovery, and more.

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Non-Profit Helps Older Adults in Long Beach with Food Insecurities

December 19, 2022 - The Community Guide In Action

Millions of adults aged 60 and older in the United States are food insecure. These adults have lower nutrient intake and suffer worse health outcomes compared with older adults who are food secure. Help Me Help You (HMHY), a Long Beach, California-based nonprofit organization, adapted a Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommendation for home-delivered and congregate meal services for older adults to address the issue of food insecurity.

Help Me Help You connect residents to social services, benefits

March 24, 2022 - Tess Kazenoff, The Long Beach Post

Starting at 8:30 a.m. every Wednesday and Friday, Help Me Help You volunteers gather in assembly-line fashion as music plays, packing and loading up to 600 bags of fresh produce, meat, and dairy products for a grocery Grab N’ Go event.

Help Me Help You launches new food pantry program to fight childhood hunger in Long Beach

March 15, 2021 - Signal Tribune

The community-based non-profit organization Help Me Help You (HMHY) has initiated the new Nutrition Knights program to provide and encourage access to free, nutritious groceries at LBUSD schools in order to combat the food insecurity that has been increasingly faced by children and families during the coronavirus pandemic.

Before the pandemic arrived in the United States, one in seven children were living in a household that was experiencing food insecurity, but that rate has now grown to one in four children, according to an HMHY press release.

City Officials Welcome 9th District Grocery Grab N Go to Feed Residents In Need
September 12, 2023
Long Beach, California – In a grand opening event, city officials will welcome all residents in need to receive free nutritious groceries at the 9th District Grocery Grab N Go outside of McKinley Elementary School on Friday, September 22nd, from 2 PM to 3 PM. This ribbon-cutting ceremony coincides with the Nutrition Knights 3rd Annual Healthy Habits event and includes Montserrat Pineda, Community Engagement Deputy Officer of Mayor Rex Richardson, Andy Cantero, 9th District Long Beach, Legislative Assistant, Lieling Hwang – Long Beach Unified School District Nutrition Services Director, Marisa Semense, Executive Director of Long Beach Community Action Partnership, Dulnari Edirisinghe-Aga, McKinley Elementary School Principal, and the Nutrition Knight. Read more...

Persons With Disabilities Can Now Receive Long Beach Food Pantry Delivery

July 12, 2023

Long Beach, California – Long Beach Food Pantry Delivery, established by local non-profit Help Me Help You, has expanded its service to include persons with disabilities as well as seniors who are unable to access their 11 Long Beach food pantry locations. Read more...