PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A pandemic-era food program serving the Delaware Valley ends this week, but organizers are finding a different way to help food-insecure people in our area.
Chosen 300 Ministries has distributed 112,000 Farmers to Families Food Boxes from the USDA to 12 communities in the Delaware Valley, according to Executive Director Brian Jenkins.
"They're getting milk, getting cheese, yogurt, butter, onions, apples. Sometimes they're getting rotisserie chicken. Sometimes they have BBQ spare ribs," said Jenkins.
The USDA said that with the program ending, the government is providing more federal assistance through SNAP food benefits.
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Jenkins said Chosen 300 Ministries is now turning their focus to people who may not be eligible for those benefits.
"We're going to increase our hot meal distribution. We have three locations we're adding a fourth location. We're also increasing food at our foodbank," he said.
He added that even without federal assistance, they will continue food distribution at a few locations.
"We have some other sources we are going to reach out to, to make sure we are providing something to families," said Jenkins.
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The USDA has recently began offering free fresh produce boxes, and is designing a program to get dairy products in the hands of people in need.
They're also looking for public input on how they can better get food to people in need.
The USDA said since last May, they've distributed more than 155 million Farmers to Families Food Boxes to homes across the United States.