Communities all over the country were helped by grants from the Emergency Food Assistance Program, Reach, and Resiliency. The Reach and Resiliency sub-grant money from the Nebraska TEFAP agency helps the Food Bank of Lincoln find underserved areas and put in place plans to improve USDA TEFAP access in those areas.
With help from the TEFAP Reach and Resiliency Grant, the Food Bank of Lincoln is able to give more USDA TEFAP products to our neighbours in need. (Photo: https://www.usda.gov/)
Some ways to make sure that the USDA TEFAP resources were spread out fairly were as simple as giving more reach and resiliency grants to certain communities.
During the first quarter of the grant, deliveries grew by 21% to four identified underserved counties. This meant that 55% more USDA TEFAP pounds of food were sent to these areas than the year before.
More than 4,000 households in Butler, Fillmore, Otoe, and York counties are now served by USDA TEFAP. USDA TEFAP now works in these counties with the help of 12 food access points and three more non-profit partners.
“As food prices keep going up, it’s very important that my two rural food pantries can get more deliveries,” said a recent pantry partner. In the last few months, the number of people using food pantries has doubled. This trend is likely to keep going.
Fresh food is always hard to find in rural areas, and it’s hard for customers to get their hands on it. One head of lettuce now costs almost $5 in our rural grocery stores. With the price hikes, 99% of our customers can’t afford something as simple as a head of lettuce.
With help from the TEFAP Reach and Resiliency Grant (USDA TEFAP), the Food Bank of Lincoln has been able to get more USDA TEFAP products to people in need.
The grant has also made it easier to use data to find good delivery spots and make sure that communities always have access to USDA TEFAP products. In the four counties that are the focus of the program, this gap in fairness is almost gone.
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