Eligibility to Shop

On grocery day, a Shopper provides information regarding name, address, and details about the composition of the family unit which we use for statistical analysis.  A Shopper may shop at the Pantry up to 2 times per month.  Income guidelines apply to determine shopping eligibility for individuals and families.

The Salem Pantry serves the 44460 Zip Code Zone.  The Zip Code Map shows Salem, Ohio, and the surrounding area.  [link here]  

Help is available if you need food or assistance from other sources.

Call   2  1  1.  

The 2-1-1 operator can tell you where to find a food pantry serving the area near your home.  2-1-1 answers 24 hours every day.

Call 2-1-1 for info on free food, housing, heating assistance, clothing, items for children, mental health services, alcohol and drug addiction services, family services, and more.

Free clothing is available at the Clothing Pantry located in the lower level of the First Methodist Church, 244 South Broadway in Salem.  Open Saturday 10 am to noon.  No forms, no income requirements.

The Banquet in Salem provides free meals open to everybody on Mondays at 5 pm until the food is gone at the Salem Memorial Building, 785 East State Street. A meal is also served on the 4th Thursday of the month except if that Thursday is Thanksgiving or a holiday such as Christmas or New Year's. Dine in or drive through food pickup. [link here]

Nina's Closet located at 535 East State Street in Salem provides children's clothing to relatives and grandparents raising kids in foster or kindship care.  Programs for children and emotional support programs for adults providing foster care are also offered.  

[Facebook link here]         [website link here]

The Salem Health Department is located in the Kent City Center, 230 North Lincoln, first floor.  [link here]

City of Salem Ohio government services  [link here]

More information about Salem, Ohio:

Visit Salem Ohio  [link here]

Salem Ohio Wikipedia  [link here]

Salem Historical Society  [link here]

You'll enter our lobby and take a number from our check-in table.  While you're waiting for your shopping turn you can select a magazine to read from the magazine rack and enjoy a cold soft drink or water from the lobby cooler along with a snack.  New toys, games, books, and coloring books, are provided for visiting children to select and take home.

When your number is called you'll register at the check-in desk and then be called to the Pantry grocery area.  You'll receive a shopping cart and a Pantry Volunteer will escort you through the Pantry grocery area so you can select the items you want.  

You can select fresh vegetables and fruit, meat, packaged and canned goods, and personal care products, when in stock.  All items are provided free of charge.

When your shopping is complete our Pantry Volunteers will help you load your groceries into your car.

A "choice Pantry" means that the shopper selects his or her groceries the same way that they would while shopping at any other grocery store.  Many Pantries prepare pre-selected groceries distributed in bags and boxes delivered to the shopper's car.  The Salem Community Pantry gives the individual Shopper the opportunity to select exactly what the shopper wants, and this reduces waste of unwanted items.  It's a lot more work providing an individual shopping experience for each of our Shoppers, but we discovered that it's a more satisfying experience for each Shopper to select what he or she wants and needs.