what kind of problems is she having with the cat? Medical finances?

if its food, 99cent stores have small boxes of cat food that last awhile and some feed stores have bins with mixed food from broken bags that you can pay by the pound

I think...and this is a big I _think_, that I recall reading about an organization that fit that description, but it was a long time ago and I can't be certain of the exact nature of the place. I'm looking for it now.

I can suggest that local shelters might be willing to help. I know that our local shelter is a no-kill chapter of the Humane Society and the owner there periodically is willing to give people food for their cats. But this is largely her acting of her own volition, rather than official policy, and she's not _that_ generous with her offerings, simply because she herself has over a hundred animals to care for and is at the mercy of donations herself. Still, it's worth looking into.

Another place to consider would be the local food pantry. Obviously you couldn't expect a food pantry to have much in the way of pet supplies, because that's _not_ the purpose of food banks, but I do know that our local food pantry periodically does have cans of cat food. (Pantries operate on donations from the local grocery stores, among other things. Any time a grocery store culls old goods from its shelves--which is usually stuff expiring within the week or month, much of it goes toward charity organizations, and this applies to non-food items as well). It would be worth calling the local pantry to ask about.

There's also just plain ol' friend help. On LiveJournal, where my primary blog is, I've built of a network of fellow cat-loving friends who all help each other out periodically, because we're none of us going to let another one starve. I've posted this in this tribe before, but I'll post it again now: livejournal.com/~pet_assistance It is mostly geared toward helping people out who find themselves in a situation where they can't keep their pet and have to find a home for it either temporarily or permanently, and don't want to have to resort to a kill shelter. It might also be a good resource for when you've fallen on hard times.

That said, there's also just the habit of general prudence--building up a store for your pets just as you would build up an emergency store for yourself in the event of a natural disaster. Whenever you buy food for your cats, or litter or anything else they need on an ongoing basis, try to buy however much you can justify spending, and put a portion of it aside as a just-in-case supply.

I found myself in a bit of a disaster with my own cats a short while ago where I was having to severely ration out their food supply in order to ensure that they had SOMETHING to eat every day. It killed me, because they meowed nonstop and I know they were hungry...! The problem is that I feed my cats a raw food diet, which isn't exactly the kind of thing you can build up a store of. But what I do now is to buy a couple cans of wet cat food and canned tuna here and there whenever it's on sale or I have a few extra dollars. Also, as soon as I was able to justify the cost, I bought the best-quality ten pound bag of dry food I was able to afford. I don't feed them that except as a last resort, but I feel better having it on hand, because it's portable and keeps for a long while. It's the same with litter--when I can afford to buy an extra bag or two, I do so, and keep at least two bags in reserve.

The latter, frankly, is anyone's best option--to buy extra whenever times are good and to keep those supplies kept aside in an Emergency-Only box. Not only will this provide you and your cats with a safety net of food, it will take a fair amount of anxiety off your shoulders and, even though it might still be prudent to look into resources for help, be it friends, family, or charity organizations, having backup supplies will provide you with the time to find those resources without feeling immediately desperate.