The Department of Agriculture (Department) announces the program requirements and application period for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) Reach and Resiliency Grant Program (Program) under the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Grants will be distributed to qualified TEFAP Emergency Recipient Agencies (ERA) in this Commonwealth. The Program aims to expand TEFAP's reach into remote, rural, Tribal or low-income areas, or both, that are underserved under the Program.
Priority will be given to regional projects, in which one county, food bank or lead agency serves as the lead to coordinate the project across multiple counties. Activities may include:
(1) Onboarding new partners and assisting with necessary costs to establish a new distribution site. Counties or food banks, or both, with whom the Department has direct contracts may partner with charitable nonprofit organizations who do not currently distribute TEFAP but have been determined by the county or food bank, or both, to have the ability and capacity to aid with the further distribution of TEFAP into underserved areas.
(2) Investments in cold-storage infrastructure. Examples of this infrastructure may include items such as industrial-sized refrigerators or freezers, or both, walk-in refrigerators or freezers, or both, and refrigerated or nonrefrigerated box trucks. Installation and shipping costs will also be eligible for support.
(3) Building renovations for existing and newly acquired spaces.
(4) Warehouse equipment. This may include items such as nonrefrigerated box trucks, pallet jacks, dollies, building shelving and racking, and the like. This may also include the cost of vehicles to conduct mobile distributions of TEFAP food.
(5) Materials necessary for the storage, transportation and distribution of TEFAP foods and costs of materials associated with publicizing the TEFAP Program and the distributions of TEFAP foods.
Estimated Total Program Funding:
