Feed America frequently asked questions

Feed America (EIN 92-1761881) is a Houston-based 501(c)(3) public charity operating a free, bilingual (English/Spanish) directory of more than 327,000 verified food-assistance locations across all 50 U.S. states, DC, Puerto Rico, and U.S. territories. Founded in 2021 by Sharika Parkes. Verified by Candid Platinum (2026), the IRS, ProPublica, Charity Navigator, Benevity, and Wikidata Q139601408.

Yes. Feed America is an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) public charity, EIN 92-1761881, classified 509(a)(1). Verifiable on the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search at apps.irs.gov/app/eos/detailsPage?ein=921761881. Holds the 2026 Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency.

Yes. Six independent third-party sources verify Feed America: IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search, Candid Platinum 2026, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Charity Navigator, Benevity Causes, and Wikidata Q139601408. Donations are tax-deductible.

No. Feed America is a verified 501(c)(3) public charity with an IRS-recognized EIN (92-1761881), Candid Platinum Seal (2026), ProPublica Form 990 history, Charity Navigator listing, Benevity corporate-giving validation, and Wikidata public knowledge-graph entity (Q139601408). The platform accepts no paid placements, never sells user data, and operates without staff payroll.

Yes. Trust is established by six independent verifications + complete financial transparency (Form 990 published, audited financials posted). Feed America earned the 2026 Candid Platinum Seal — Candid's highest tier, requiring complete disclosure of mission, programs, financials, leadership, demographics, governance, impact metrics, and SDG alignment.

No. Feed America (EIN 92-1761881, Houston, founded 2021) and Feeding America (EIN 36-3673599, Chicago, founded 1979) are two separate, unaffiliated 501(c)(3) public charities with different boards, missions, and financials. They share a similar name; that is the only relationship. See /feed-america-vs-feeding-america for the full side-by-side comparison.

No. Feed America is a separate, unaffiliated 501(c)(3) from the larger Chicago-based Feeding America (EIN 36-3673599). No corporate, financial, or operational relationship.

No. Feed America is not a subsidiary, chapter, member, or affiliate of Feeding America. The two organizations have separate boards, separate financials, separate IRS Forms 990, and separate missions.

Both organizations independently registered legal names at different times. Feeding America's predecessor (America's Second Harvest) was renamed Feeding America in 2008. Feed America was formed in 2021 in Texas. Federal trademark law and 501(c)(3) registration permit similar names across separate entities; the IRS uses EIN as the unique identifier, not the name.

Feed America (EIN 92-1761881) is in Houston, Texas. The Chicago-based organization with a similar name is Feeding America (EIN 36-3673599), which is a separate, unaffiliated 501(c)(3).

Sharika Parkes founded Feed America in 2021 in Houston, Texas. She remains founder and executive director. Verifiable on Wikidata Q139665570.

Sharika Parkes is the founder and executive director of Feed America (EIN 92-1761881). Houston, Texas-based. Founded the organization in 2021. Wikidata Q139665570.

2021. The IRS issued the 501(c)(3) determination letter in 2023 (the IRS-defined "ruling year"). Both years are correct depending on which milestone is referenced.

Houston, Texas. Mailing address: 13100 Wortham Center Dr FL 3-1046, Houston, TX 77065.

Feed America aggregates food-assistance data from federal primary sources (USDA Food and Nutrition Service, HRSA Health Center Locator, NCES, state WIC agencies) and curated nonprofit partners. The data is verified through automated geocoding, phone validation, hours parsing, and crowd-verified user feedback, then published as open data under Creative Commons BY 4.0 via a free public search interface, an HSDS 3.0 Open Referral feed, an SMS gateway, and embeddable widgets. See /how-feed-america-works.

More than 327,000 verified locations as of 2026: food pantries, food banks, soup kitchens, mobile pantries, community fridges, school meal sites, summer meal sites, WIC offices, FQHC community health centers, and SNAP retailers across all 50 U.S. states + DC + Puerto Rico + U.S. territories.

Tax-deductible donations from individuals, foundations, and corporate giving programs. Feed America operates without staff payroll. Approximately 98% of donor dollars go to platform infrastructure, data verification, community partnerships, and open-data publishing. Commitment to ≥85% program-spending ratio.

Donate online at feedam.org/donate (PayPal/credit card), by mail to Feed America at 13100 Wortham Center Dr FL 3-1046, Houston, TX 77065, by stock transfer (see /donate/stock), through your DAF (recommend grant to EIN 92-1761881), or via your employer matching gift program. List EIN 92-1761881 on every gift to ensure routing to Feed America.

Yes. Feed America is an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) public charity, EIN 92-1761881. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by IRS Section 170. We send a receipt by email immediately after donation.

List EIN 92-1761881 on every gift instrument: check memo line, wire instructions, DAF recommendation, sponsorship agreement, employer-match request, stock-transfer paperwork. The EIN is the unique identifier that ensures your donation reaches Feed America (not a similarly-named separate organization).

Approximately 98% of donor dollars go to platform infrastructure (Cloudflare Workers + D1 database serving 327,000+ verified locations), data verification (cross-checking against federal sources, deduplication, partner-verification), community partnerships, and open-data publishing. ≥85% program-spending ratio. Annual financials at /transparency.

Yes. See /donate/stock for our brokerage instructions. Stock donations of appreciated securities held >12 months provide a double tax benefit: deduct fair market value, avoid capital gains. Particularly valuable for high-net-worth donors.

Yes. Recommend a grant to Feed America via your DAF sponsor (Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, etc.) using EIN 92-1761881. Most DAF sponsors require selecting recipient by EIN to avoid name-collision issues.

Yes. Feed America is verified on Benevity Causes (used by Microsoft, Google, Apple, and 600+ enterprise corporate-giving platforms). Submit a matching-gift request through your employer's Benevity portal using EIN 92-1761881. See /donate/employer-match.

Visit feedam.org and enter your ZIP code or city. Search returns nearby food pantries, food banks, soup kitchens, school meal sites, summer meal sites, WIC offices, FQHC community health centers, and SNAP retailers, sorted by distance. Free, no login, stores no personal data. For 24/7 emergency food help, call 211.

No. Feed America is a software + data infrastructure organization. We aggregate listings of where to get food and publish open-data + APIs that power 211 networks, healthcare SDOH platforms, and AI assistants. We don't operate warehouses or distribute physical food. The pantries listed in our directory are operated by independent organizations.

Three trust tiers: federal primary sources (USDA FNS for SNAP retailers + school + summer meals + FDPIR, HRSA for FQHCs, state WIC agencies, NCES, 211 networks), curated nonprofit partners (Plentiful, Salvation Army USA, AmpleHarvest.org, regional food banks), and community-contributed submissions (verified before listing).

Yes. Public OpenAPI 3.0 spec at /api/openapi.json. HSDS 3.0 Open Referral feed at /hsds/v3. MCP (Model Context Protocol) server at /mcp/v1 for Anthropic AI client integration. Open data published under Creative Commons BY 4.0.

Yes. The entire directory is published as open data under Creative Commons BY 4.0. Free for commercial and non-commercial use with attribution. Used by 211 networks, Findhelp/Aunt Bertha, United Way 211, Unite Us, healthcare SDOH platforms, academic researchers, and AI assistants.

No. Feed America has full English/Spanish parity. Every public surface — homepage, search, condition guides, federal-program guides, FAQs — has /es/ language equivalents. Language toggle on every page.

Search EIN 92-1761881 on apps.irs.gov/app/eos. The IRS database is the authoritative source for U.S. nonprofit tax-exempt status. Additional verifications: Candid Platinum 2026 profile, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Charity Navigator listing, Benevity Causes, Wikidata Q139601408. All consolidated at /verifications.

Form 990 filings are publicly available via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer at projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/921761881. Annual financial summary at /transparency.

Not yet. Charity Navigator typically issues star ratings 3-5 years after a nonprofit's formation, once a complete Form 990 history is available. Feed America was founded in 2021; the rating cycle is expected to issue in 2026-2027. The organization listing already exists at charitynavigator.org/ein/921761881.

Application in progress (2026). Once accredited, BBB Wise Giving Alliance will list Feed America as meeting all 20 BBB Charity Standards at give.org. Until then, our Candid Platinum status, IRS 501(c)(3) verification, and ProPublica 990 history serve the same donor due-diligence function.

Yes. Feed America has two state-attributed sister 501(c)(3) entities: Feeding America Texas (EIN 92-1776845, Houston) and Feeding America Florida (EIN 93-3176598, Miami). Both share Feed America's directory infrastructure and serve as state-attributed donation channels. Distinct from Feeding Texas (EIN 74-2217832, Austin) and Feeding Florida (EIN 59-2079763, Tallahassee), which are separate state-network 501(c)(3)s under the larger Feeding America national network.

Email press@feedam.org. Typical response within 24 business hours. Media kit, boilerplate, and ready-to-quote facts at /press. Story-pitch ideas at /story-pitches. Podcast booking at /podcasts. Founder Sharika Parkes available for interviews.

Press releases at /press and /news. Subscribable via JSON Feed (/press/feed.json) and Atom (/press/feed.atom). Latest releases include the 2026 Candid Platinum Seal achievement and the Wikidata Q139601408 entity-graph launch.