Harrisburg, PA – Today, Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced awards of more than $2.07 million to 57 food banks, pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens across Pennsylvania through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) Reach and Resiliency Grants. Today's grants demonstrate the Shapiro Administration's commitment to fighting hunger and food insecurity and increasing access to healthy food for Pennsylvanians, wherever they live.
"Pennsylvania enjoys an incredible bounty of natural resources and generous communities willing to help feed those in need," Secretary Redding said. "Expanding the capacity of community organizations to supply fresh, healthy food to families in need is a key element of Shapiro Administration's strategy to invest in a healthier, more secure Pennsylvania."
TEFAP Reach and Resiliency Grants are being awarded to organizations distributing USDA Foods through TEFAP contracts with the state, county, or a county-designated Lead Agency.
Funded projects include mobile food pantries, expanded cold storage and warehouse space, delivery vehicles, and other investments that expand TEFAP's reach into isolated or underserved rural or low-income communities.
This is the second round of TEFAP Reach and Resiliency Grants. In September 2023, Pennsylvania awarded $1.6 million to 39 organizations working to reduce food insecurity across the state.
According to Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap report, in 2022, 11.9% of Pennsylvanians, more than 1.5 million people, did not know the source of their next meal.
Schuylkill Community Action, in Pottsville, serves a rural area with 19,400 residents, or 13.4%, who are characterized as food insecure in the report. The nonprofit received $50,000 for a mobile food pantry that will serve Latinx and other rural residents, many of whom have no grocery store or readily available fresh food in their communities.
"This TEFAP Reach and Resiliency grant is a game-changer for our community," said Schuylkill Community Action Executive Director Dave Young. "With the new box truck, we can extend our reach to rural and remote areas, ensuring that no one in Schuylkill County, including our growing Latinx community, has to struggle with food insecurity due to transportation barriers. This initiative is crucial for bridging the gap in access to nutritious food and improving the well-being of all our residents."
The Shapiro Administration made strides toward filling the "meal gap" in 2023-24, providing universal free breakfast for the first time to 1.7 million public school students and free lunch to all 22,000 Pennsylvania students who are eligible for reduced-price lunches. Nutritious, locally-grown apples will be on the menu for those students after the Administration dedicated $2 million of $6.8 million in 2023-24 USDA Local Food for Local Schools funds to meet the challenge of helping Pennsylvania's apple growers keep a bumper crop of apples from going to waste.
For 2024-25 Governor Shapiro has proposed $3 million in new funding to provide emergency food assistance for low-income Pennsylvanians, connect surplus food donated by farmers through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System to food banks and food pantries statewide, support low income families and seniors with fresh, local food through the Farmers Market Nutrition Program, and supply low-income seniors with Senior Food Boxes filled with nutritious dietary staples.
TEFAP Reach and Resiliency grant recipients announced today:
Regional
Bucks, Montgomery, Philadelphia counties
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Mitzvah Food Program -- $49,910
Luzerne, Wyoming counties
Commission on Economic Opportunity, Weinberg Foodbank -- $50,000
Single County
Adams County
South Central Community Action Program – $46,870
Allegheny County
Goodwill of SW Pennsylvania Northside Common Ministries Pantry – $25,299
Community Human Services Food Bank – $50,000
Swissvale Cares – $49,360
Rankin Christian Center -- $50,000
North Hills Community Outreach -- $15,251
Beaver County
Church of the Redeemed of Beaver County -- $50,000
Berks County
The Salvation Army, Reading – $16,538
Blair County
Central Pennsylvania Food Bank -- $50,000
Bradford County
Bentley Creek Wesleyan Church, Helping Hands Food Pantry -- $14,462
Cambria County
Interfaith Community Food Pantry – $46,855
Women's Help Center -- $50,000
St. Vincent de Paul Food for Families -- $42,432
Cameron County
Northern Tier Community Action Corporation -- $50,000
Carbon County
Grace Community Church Panther Valley Food Bank -- $43,060
Chester County
Chester County Food Bank – $50,000
Kennett Area Community Service -- $26,650
Phoenixville Area Community Services -- $50,000
Columbia County
AGAPE -- $50,000
Cumberland County
Project SHARE of Carlisle – $31,447
Dauphin County
Harrisburg Area Food Pantry – $15,000
Delaware County
DELCO Food Project -- $50,000
MT. Zion CME Food Pantry -- $50,000
Erie County
Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania – $20,000
Fayette County
Fayette County Community Action Agency – $30,000
Lackawanna County
Friends of the Poor – $50,000
Lancaster County
Columbia Presbyterian Church Columbia Dream Center -- $7,475
Lawrence County
New Life Baptist Church of New Wilmington -- $25,000
Mercer County
Community Food Warehouse of Mercer County – $36,735
Monroe County
Stroudsburg Wesleyan Church Food Pantry – $50,000
Montgomery County
ACLAMO Safe Haven Food Pantry and Community Closet – $20,000
Family Promise Montco PA – $18,500
Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities -- $23,000
Salvation Army Norristown -- $15,885
Share Food Program -- $50,000
Shepherd's Shelf -- $10,000
Northampton County
Easton Area Neighborhood Centers – $7,000
Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley and Northeast PA – $47,299
Philadelphia County
Puentes de Salud Food Pharmacy Program -- $50,000
North Light Community Center Food Pantry -- $11,300
Feast of Justice -- $50,000
Small Things -- $7,750
Mizpah Seventh-Day Adventist Church Food Pantry -- $50,000
REID Foundation Philadelphia Food Pantries -- $50,000
Second Antioch Baptist Food Pantry -- $50,000
Temple University Health Episcopal Campus Food Pantry -- $50,000
Potter County
Potter County Human Services Food Banks -- $9,700
Schuylkill County
Schuylkill Community Action – $50,000
Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank -- $33,650
Somerset County
Somerset County Mobile Food Bank -- $50,000
Warren County
The Salvation Army -- $24,000
Wayne County
Wayne County Food Pantry -- $9,857
Westmoreland County
Westmoreland County Food Bank -- $44,378
Wyoming County
Wyoming County Commissioners Food Pantry -- $50,000
York County
York County Food Bank – $50,000
Find foodbanks, pantries and other resources in your area, plus information on the Pennsylvania Food Policy Council, and what you can do to help fight food insecurity at agriculture.pa.gov/foodsecurity.
Contact: Shannon Powers, shpowers@pa.gov, 717.603.2056
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