RICHMOND, Virginia – Demand at food banks in Virginia has skyrocketed during the pandemic, and a new effort is aimed at supplying these community lifelines with healthier items.
Ahead of the Richmond Heart Walk, the American Heart Association collects nutritious, non-perishable food for delivery to local pantries in the Tri-Cities region. Research has shown that food insecurity can lead to high blood pressure and diabetes, risk factors for heart disease.
Xiomara Encarnacion, Latinx Outreach Coordinator at Chesterfield Food Bank, said it can be difficult to find affordable, healthy food for the region’s growing Hispanic and Latin American population.
“It is very difficult to find food suitable for our culture, but also, the prices are very expensive,” she said. “If you want to buy something organic, it’s double the price. We offer it to the food bank. People are waiting for hours and hours because this is the best choice for them right now.
The Richmond Heart Walk will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday, October 23 at Libbie Mill. The American Heart Association is already accepting donations, which can be dropped off at the group’s office in Glen Allen. Bulk pickups can also be arranged.
Zakia McKensey is Executive Director of Nationz Foundation, a non-profit health organization serving the LGBTQ community in Virginia. The foundation offers a pantry in its Richmond office, as well as pantries in its mobile HIV testing units. McKensey said that since the pandemic, the foundation has worked to ensure that those in need of its services have access to fresh food.
“They were already facing oppression, unemployment and housing instability, and with the pandemic everything is only getting worse,” she said. “We have been very diligent in ensuring that our doors remain open, that we provide safe interactions for our staff, in order to continue to meet the needs of the communities we serve. “
Heart Walk attendees can also drop off last-minute donations at the event. Some of the donations requested by AHA include canned beans and fruit, whole wheat pasta and more.
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla .– After weeks of pressure on Gov. Ron DeSantis to request a one-time pandemic food stamp program, this week Florida became the last state to apply and gain approval for more than a billion dollars in Electronic transfer of benefits in the event of a pandemic (P-EBT) federal funding.
The program was released by the US Department of Agriculture in April to help children who depend on school meals distributed during the summer. More than 30 Democratic state lawmakers and 80 advocacy groups have urged the governor to apply for the program.
Florida agriculture commissioner Niki Fried said it was a shame the state was taking so long to apply.
“I don’t know if it was for political reasons, I don’t know if the DCF dropped the ball, and then when we called them they had to come up with an excuse,” Fried said. “But whatever, at the end of the day the money goes back to our families across the state.”
A spokesperson for the governor once said the Flroidans did not need the program because the children were back in school. The program aims to help approximately 2.7 million children in Florida. Families with children in poverty will receive additional benefits of $ 375 over a 30-day period starting November 15.
Fried said every penny counts for those who are food insecure.
“$ 375 may not seem like a lot to some people, but to many Floridians it will make all the difference in the world,” Fried said. “Provide money for groceries, so this week’s paychecks can cover rent or car payment.”
Children under the age of six who attended daycare and whose families were already enrolled in the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), may also request the additional benefit.
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PORTLAND, Oregon – Groups fighting child hunger say Congress’ Build Back Better plan could be a unique opportunity to reduce the number of children suffering from hunger.
The budget reconciliation package currently being debated in Washington, DC includes a provision to extend eligibility for school meals.
Chloe Eberhardt, community food justice policy advocate at Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon, said this offered a path to making school meals universal in Oregon.
“It’s really something we’ve invested in,” Eberhardt explained. “In Oregon, before the pandemic, because we know the value and importance of school meals in fighting child hunger, and so it’s really a validation of that.”
The Build Back Better plan also increases access to meals during the summer months, when hunger increases among children. The legislation is being pushed back, including by some moderate Democrats, because of its cost, which currently exceeds $ 3.5 trillion.
Susannah Morgan, CEO of the Oregon Food Bank, said the budget package includes key provisions to reduce disparities at all levels, such as universal preschool education.
She said that one of the most important elements in the fight against poverty is to make permanent the Child tax credit, which went to families during the pandemic. The credit provides families with up to $ 3,600 per year, depending on the age of their child, and is phased out for higher income households.
“Research has shown that over the months that it exists, it halves child poverty,” Morgan reported. “It takes families with young children out of poverty, which is absolutely amazing and lovely.”
Although there was a urge to come back to life before the pandemic, Eberhardt said hunger was a major problem before COVID-19. One in ten Oregonians struggles to put food on the table, according to Oregon Hunger Task Force. She noted that the rates were twice as high for people of color, including black and Indigenous families.
“The Build Back Better Act, for us, really gets right to the point because we don’t want to go back to what was normal before the pandemic because it wasn’t working,” Eberhardt said.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif .– Good news for low-income families who depend on SNAP, the federal food assistance program: their monthly allowance will increase by about 21%, starting in October.
Each person eligible for SNAP will now get an average increase of about $ 36 on their EBT card – an injection of about $ 2 billion for the most needy families in the state. If they are already receiving SNAP benefits, said Frank Tamborello, executive director of Action Against Hunger Los Angeles, they don’t have to do anything more.
“The increase is going to be automatic,” he said. “There are no documents to submit. And it’s going to happen across the country. This is a permanent increase going forward.”
In August, the administration revised a program known as Thrifty Food Plan for the first time since 1975. It lists the minimum amount of food a family would need to purchase for healthy eating. This change resulted in an increase in SNAP benefits.
In addition, many farmer’s markets across the state will increase the Market match 50% program, also from October. At present, people who receive CalFresh beneficiaries receive $ 10 in vouchers for every $ 10 spent at a farmers’ market; this match will now be $ 15.
Harry Brown-Hiegel, manager of the Pomona and Los Angeles Farmers Markets, said the extra money would give children better access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
“Obviously, parents have more purchasing power,” he said, “and to increase that there are so many issues, including COVID, in which nutrition is a key component.”
To find out if your local market is participating in the Market Match program, visit online at MarketMatch.org. The increase in this program will continue until the end of the year.
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