USDA Announces Food Stamp Outreach Grants

More than $1 million goes to America's Second Harvest Affiliates

Chicago, IL -- September 24, 2002 -- America's Second Harvest provides emergency food assistance to 23 million Americans every year - of whom only three in 10 are using the nation's bedrock anti-hunger program, food stamps, to supplement their family's food budget. Through competitive research grants, announced today by USDA Under Secretary Eric Bost, charitable agencies across the country will be given the funds to create programs to increase the number of people who can access the Food Stamp Program. The 2002 grant recipients announced today by USDA include several affiliates of America's Second Harvest.

Nationally, the food stamp program currently reaches six in 10 eligible US residents. However, a state-by-state report issued this summer shows a wide discrepancy in participation in the program. The State of Hawaii and the District of Columbia reported that in 1999 (the last year of the study) nearly all eligible residents were receiving the food stamp benefits to which they were entitled. At the other end of the spectrum, only 35 percent of Nevada residents were participating in the Food Stamp Program. Three other states, Massachusetts, Kansas, and Idaho had participation rates significantly below the national average (43%, 43% and 45% respectively).

Through the national competitive grants announced today, USDA hopes to improve that ratio, by seeking the best ways to reach hungry people who are eligible for food stamps. Hunger in America: 2001, America's Second Harvest's comprehensive study of the people who depend on charitable hunger relief programs, reported that 64 percent of America's Second Harvest clients had applied for food stamps but only 30 percent were receiving benefits. America's Second Harvest has long been an advocate of improving access to this vital federal hunger-relief program.

Funding for this outreach program was ensured during reauthorization of the Farm Bill earlier this year through the strong support of congressional hunger-relief leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Ranking Member Richard Lugar (R-IN) and their counterparts in the House Agriculture Committee, Congressmen Larry Combest (R-Texas 19) and Charles Stenholm (D, Texas 17).

Below is a brief summary of some of the innovative programs funded by today's grant awards.

The Food Bank of Central New York, $217,827
Serving the Greater Syracuse region, the Food Bank will target former TANF recipients, the elderly, immigrants and non-English speaking citizens through community based programs designed to pre-screen individuals for eligibility. The Food Bank will use a CD disc that contains a series of questions to determine eligibility and will provide training and technical assistance to its agencies.
Contact: Deborah Perkins, Director of Development, 315-437-1899

Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana, $285,766
Throughout the nine-county region surrounding Fort Wayne, the Community Harvest Food Bank will work with newly unemployed, low-income workers and others who may be unable or unwilling to apply for food stamps. They will create "one-stop shops" at charitable agencies and select Kroger stores to ensure that people who need help will be able to receive it more easily.
Contact: Jane Avery, Executive Director, 260-447-3696

Food Bank of Delaware, $349,592
In partnership with the Delaware Health and Social Services and the University of Delaware, the Food Bank will conduct outreach and pre-screening activities to effectively improve the access and increase enrollment in the Food Stamp Program. Pre-screening and assessments will be done at the existing Life Skills program and throughout the state at non-profit agencies and State Service Centers.
Contact: Donald L. Baker II, Development Director 302-292-1305 x213

Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties, $287,680
The Food Bank will test the effectiveness of a multi-level marketing effort to increase use of food stamps by the low-income and Hispanic immigrant populations in the rural counties of Central California. It will also work to remove barriers to food stamp access, including the perception of ineligibility, the inconvenience of the application process and the negative social stigma attached to using food stamps.
Contact: Lee Mercer, Education/Outreach Coordinator 831-722-7110 x220