i have an issue this month. i believed my husband was paying the bills over the last few months & turns out his idea of paying bills was to pay 1/4 of what was owed on the bills: fence, cable, phone, picerne, school.
SOOO he makes a move of paying the rest of completely THIS MONTH- using all the money we have. ---- now we are in a situation where we have NO MONEY LEFT for food & at a time where i would have rather had food on my table rather than cable or a phone but it's too late. (too bad they wouldn't let us have a portion back that we could pay on the 15th lol)

Does anyone know of food pantries or anything that are open today or this weekend? i've called 3 that i have found and just my luck they are closed on Friday. even if we have to eat grilled cheese sandwiches for each meal till next Thursday i'd be willing to do that. it breaks my heart to feed my children a glass of water, piece of bread & a side of refried beans for dinner, my youngest one refuses to eat it.

i did learn my lesson. i will be in charge of paying the bills properly each month. i'm already tired of the holidays for now they turn into a huge struggle rather than smiles. 

ACS can't assist you? Give them a ring and explain your circumstances. 

ok thanks. i'll see what they can do. 

hope you find the help you need, but i have a question how did he only pay half of picerne? 

If you swing by the WIC office on post in the same building with ACS. They have flyers for community services on the left side wall. It has a listing of all food pantries in the area up to Manhattan, JC and Ogden.

Hope this helps 

my husband is headed up to the acs & wic as soon as they let him off at noon. @Dawn- our electric bills that are sent each month has to be paid by calling picerne & getting a code or something & he would pay half or less of each month. i got the bill yesterday *it showed we used $20 BUT had a past bill of $59 so made this months total to $79. he doesn't understand to turn tvs, computers, games, lights etc off when he isn't using them (i keep my heat to 64 most of the time & just keep layers on to try to keep from getting a bill) lol. thanks you all. i looked up online & called some but they aren't open on Friday. I do have WIC but when i was in my wreck a few months ago all of my papers got shoved somewhere & i can't find them. i'm hoping that my next vouchers for my youngest son- are available when he goes up there.

*sorry for any type-o's or run on sentences. i'm sick w/bronchitis & stressed out at the same time. if i had energy i'd find stuff to sell on bookoo but that turns into a full time job & more stress. lol. 

There are two food banks in Junction City, that I know of. When we first moved here we ran into some issues, because I wasn't able to find a job right away.

There is one behind the Goodwill, I think. I forget what street that is. Get there early, because that place gets packed. When I went there, I got three Walmart bags full of stuff. Family box of Frosted Flakes, couple cans of vegetables, spaghetti o's, tuna, tuna helper, pasta, and they have rolls of toilet paper that you can take if you need it. When we went they said you can only go every 3 months.

The other food bank wasn't as military friendly. It's off of 3rd St. You have to fill out a bunch of paperwork and turn in social security cards for everyone in the family. On top of that they can only help you one time, because you're a military family. I thought that was a lot of work for one visit, but if you really need it then it's worth the work.

There is also a place off of Adams St. that sells day old bread, across from the post office. It's a little store run by an older woman who is super nice. You can get bread at the commissary for $1 and the rolls. If you're looking for bagels or other types of bread, they usually have it. Again, you have to go early. It's all Pepperidge Farms bread, which is a great deal. We go through bagels like crazy, so I go and get two bags of bagels every week. Can't beat a $1.

Sorry I don't know the names. I can get to the places, just don't know what the names of the places are lol. Good luck and I hope you find some things. Everyone has tough times, it's just a little bump in the road. 

I hope you get the assistance you need for you and your family c:

As a side note, tax refunds are right around the corner; as is father winter. It is really essential in Kansas to keep a stocked pantry or shelter room with emergency non-perishable foods and toiletries. It's a good idea to have emergency cash stashed along with these items; heaven forbid we have another ice storm and no ATMs or grocers!

Lastly, if you are in need of holiday cheer this weekend, Trees for Troops kicks off tomorrow. 

@Dawn- our electric bills that are sent each month has to be paid by calling picerne

Ah ok I gotcha, the building we live in isnt metered, i thought you meant he was paying bah sorry i misunderstood you. 

thats odd because when we go over enough to pay i pay the company directy online. i have never paid housing for our electric. and i don't trust them to actually take care of it either. not saying its wrong it just sounds like housing is being funny. 

Did you get food? I know that must have been hard for you to post. Has your need been met? Can I help? 

The USO bldg onpost always offers food for lunch and dinner for free...plus they have drinks, cookies etc up there... 

Have you checked if anyone on RYS was giving anything away or might be able to help out? All these are great ideas and I would go with them first if possible. But if you are in desparate need and as a last resort since it is to fee your family and only a temporary situation I would go to a post date cash checking place, bounce a check, or go to a local pawn shop and pawn something small for a little bit of money just to get you by until payday. May get some negative responses here on this, but again this is a last resort and if it is to feed your family you gotta do what you gotta do. I did this before back in the day when I was young and needing the money when I was on my own(my mistake was I did it irresponsibly though, but that's another story) so don't get caught in the whole cash checking thing like a lot of people do. It's not a bad thing and does not cost much unless it has changed in the last 10yrs or so. If you bounce a check, make sure you have bounce protection on your checking account and know what the overdraft fee would cost. Most banks are cheaper than store returned check fees and are around $20-25. Just remember that fee and the amount you write your check for will be taken out of your next deposited paycheck too or any deposits made to your account to cover the negative balance first and make sure that is accounted for. If you have bounce protection, the bank will pay it off for you as "if you had the money in your account" so no one else will ever know. You don't have to worry about it showing negatively on your credit history or anything.

Not an ideal situation but if all else fails these are 3 other options. I've been there and know it can be rough. Luckily when I was there it was just me I had to think of and not my family. But if it ever were me again and all other options failed, I would do it again in a heart beat. Best of luck to you. 

I don't think your suggestions were bad ideas Mami2one. I have bounced a check before for food. You end up paying more for it in the end, because of bank fees, but if it's something you have to do then that's what you have to do.

I also know someone that pawned jewelry for money. I don't think that is a bad thing either. You're family comes before any material thing. The kind of good side to pawning is that you have an allotted amount of time to buy that stuff back. I have never done it before, so I don't know if there are fees associated with it or not.

I see people post things on RYS and craigslist occasionally for food. Fortunately there are really great people out there that are willing to give. There are those people that will send you hate email telling you to get a job without knowing the whole story.

I think you have to do what you have to do to for your family. Asking for help is not a bad thing. Sometimes things happen. 

For everyone who needs the help with food, Don't be embarrassed to get to these places. Your family comes first. ALWAYS.

Food Pantries:

*136 West 3rd St. Junction City 785-762-8830

*905 Yuma Manhattan 785-537-0730

*Onaga-Contact Deanna Lewis or Pastor 785-889-4268

*Presbyterian Church of Riley 785-485-2697

*St. George-Contact Winnie Sharp 785-494-2826 or Sherry Duncan 785-494-2255

*St. Marys- Contact Mick &Mary Poell 785-437-2448 Or Tiny and Gary Roth 785-584-6466

*Council of Churches in Wamego 785-456-7495 or Community Health Ministry 785-456-7872

*207 Riley Blvd Ogden Friendship House Ministries (Ogden residents only) 785-539-1791


Heartland Share: Monthly food Package in exchange for 2 hours community service::
*Junction City contact Mary Ann Neale 785-238-3740

*Wamego 1st Baptist Church 785-456-7396
*St. Marys Immaculate Conception Church 785-437-6198

*Onaga contact Jennifer Lane 785-456-6526

*West Moreland Contacc Sharron Springer 785-457-3563 or Mary Herrs 785-457-3680

*835 Church Ave Manhattan Blue Valley Memorial United Methodist Church 785-539-8790