Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced awards of more than $2.07 million to 57 food banks, pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens across Pennsylvania through”

TEFAP Reach and Resiliency Grants are being awarded to organizations distributing USDA Foods through TEFAP contracts with the state, county, or a county-designated Lead Agency.

Funded projects include mobile food pantries, expanded cold storage and warehouse space, delivery vehicles, and other investments that expand TEFAP’s reach into isolated or underserved rural or low-income communities.

Grants include:

• Schuylkill County Schuylkill Community Action, in Pottsville, serves a rural area with 19,400 residents, or 13.4%, who are characterized as food insecure in the report. The nonprofit received $50,000 for a mobile food pantry that will serve Latinx and other rural residents, many of whom have no grocery store or readily available fresh food in their communities.

“This TEFAP Reach and Resiliency grant is a game-changer for our community,” said Schuylkill Community Action Executive Director Dave Young. “With the new box truck, we can extend our reach to rural and remote areas, ensuring that no one in Schuylkill County, including our growing Latinx community, has to struggle with food insecurity due to transportation barriers. This initiative is crucial for bridging the gap in access to nutritious food and improving the well-being of all our residents.”

• Carbon County: Grace Community Church Panther Valley Food Bank, $43,060

• Northampton County: Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley and Northeast PA, $47,299

• Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank, $33,650

Find food banks, pantries and other resources in your area at agriculture.pa.gov/foodsecurity.