ORLANDO, Fla. — A Central Florida food bank is trying to bridge the gap after losing millions of dollars in federal funding.
Derrick Chubbs, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, says they receive Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funded-orders, which is part of The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). It falls under the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Last month, Spectrum News reported they were losing 28 truckloads of food after the USDA suspended emergency food assistance funding, equaling roughly $1.6 million. They were notified March 25.
But since then, the problem has grown.
“That was just supposed to be temporary between now and September,” said Chubbs. “We found out that program is permanently suspended and that amounts to around $11 million worth of food.”
Leaders with Second Harvest say by March 31, those orders were permanently canceled. For the food bank, $11 million totals roughly six million meals.
Chubbs says they’ve lost around $15 million in product in less than a month, which would go right to their partners. However, he is ensuring families and food pantries they are still receiving federal funding, just at a smaller level.
“Ultimately, what it means is we’ll have less food to distribute, and not just regular food, this is high-quality food. It’s dairy products, it’s produce, it’s protein. It’s the types of food that allow us when we’re putting together a box of groceries, for it to really be a balanced box of groceries,” said Chubbs.
Chubbs tells Spectrum News about 15% of their funding comes from the federal government, while more than 50% comes from donors. They are asking the Central Florida community to support them and the organizations they help serve.
Second Harvest partners with 700 organizations, including One Heart for Women and Children, along North Rio Grande Avenue.
Founder Stephanie Bowman says anywhere from 12,000 to 20,000 people are fed each month. The pantry is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“We’re in the middle of another crisis, just not the pandemic crisis,” she said. “We are serving just as many people today as we were then, and the number has not gone down. The need is even greater now.”
Bowman says she understands it will take some adjusting, but she is working on her end to get more donations for her food pantry.
“The amount of food and the types of food are going to be different,” said Bowman.
Chubbs says he is planning for the future and explains their business model allows them to expand and contract how their daily operations work. He expects to feel the loss around July, just before the school year kicks back up.
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