Combating food insecurity one text at a time

With the rapid rise of inflation around the world, the number of food-insecure people grew 10% in 2022. In the US alone, there are over 60,000 food pantries working to fulfill the needs of 35 million individuals struggling with hunger. One organization, Plentiful, is working to directly connect millions of people to the thousands of available food pantries efficiently through SMS.

Plentiful turned to Twilio Programmable Messaging to create a reservation system using text messages as the primary communication channel. Many individuals experiencing food insecurity also have difficulty accessing technology, limited data plans for their phones, or used feature phones that can't access applications. Today, clients text FOOD to the shortcode PANTRY to schedule reservations at food pantries and receive important updates from programs they visit. With an experience serving over 67,000 Unique NYCers via SMS, Plentiful has reduced wait times for food pantry visits by over an hour, while providing a dignified way for neighbors to find and schedule their visits.