Income, Residency Rules Added for Food Giveaway
Income, Residency Rules
Added for Food Giveaway
The first food giveaway for the year, sponsored by the Grant County Christian Service Council and Feeding South Dakota, will be on Wednesday, May 8, from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Living Word Church parking lot adjacent to South Dakota Highway 15 at the north edge of Milbank.
However, the agencies that sponsor the giveaways are making changes to the criteria for eligibility. Proof of South Dakota residency and income will need to be provided by those wishing benefit from the food giveaway.
“There will be several recognizable changes this year with this event due to the fact that Feeding South Dakota is now receiving a large percentage of their food from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP),” explained Brenda Maass, an organizer for the event. TEFAP is a federal program that helps supplement the diets of low-income Americans by providing them emergency food assistance at no cost, and the USDA provides the products and funds to operate this program.
“Because of the involvement of the federal government, there are specific requirements and rules that must be followed,” Maass noted.
The first change is that unlike the giveaways in the past, federal commodity rules require Feeding South Dakota to serve only South Dakota residents, so recipients at the Milbank distribution must be residents of South Dakota.
The second big change is that recipients must now meet federal income guidelines. The guidelines will be posted at the event, were printed in the April 24 issue of the Grant County Review and are available at the Milbank ICAP office. Those wishing to receive the food will not be asked for verification of income, but will self-report and indicate whether they meet the income eligibility guidelines. At registration, households receiving food will be required to provide their name, number in the household, address, and signature of the family member receiving the food. This information will then be compiled into a database at Feeding South Dakota and will be reported to TEFAP.
The third change comes about because participants must now meet federal income guidelines. “This changes the way guests can now pick up food for another family. As in the past, you may pick up food for one other family, however with the new regulations, this family must also be residing in South Dakota and must meet the federal income guidelines as well,” Maass said. In order to pick up food for a second family, they must fill out the TEFAP Proxy form with the guest who will be picking up the food for them. The forms will be available prior to the giveaway at the Milbank ICAP office, or by contacting Maass at brendajmaass@ gmail.com. The forms will also be available the day of the event, but must be completed and presented at registration before food can be given for the second family.
As in the past, because of the close proximity to Highway 15, organizers ask that recipients arrive no earlier than 2:30 p.m. as there won’t be volunteers available to park vehicles until that time. They also ask that no one park in the church parking lot until the volunteers are there to give instructions.
“If you wish to pick up food for your family, you will enter the lot where instructed, and will receive further traffic flow directions from there. We will be asking recipients to simply open their trunks or back liftgates of their vehicles once they are in line, and volunteers will place the boxes in the vehicle. “Please have a space ready for the box in your vehicle so the traffic flow will not be disrupted by needing additional time to make room for your boxes,” Maass said. The church will be open during the giveaway, so restrooms will be available.
Those wanting to pick up food are asked to realize the new registration process will take more time to complete, and are urged to be prepared to present their family information quickly and clearly. “If the guests can have the following information printed on a sheet of paper, and ready to hand to the volunteers registering the families, this will help speed up the process, and guarantee that the information is correctly reported,” Maass said. The information is to include First and Last Name, number of children in the family ages 0-17, number of adults in the family ages 18-59, number of adults in the family 60+, and address, city, zip code.
Community members interested in volunteering for the event, needing more information about receiving food, or that need to get a copy of the PROXY FORM, should contact Maass at 605-880-7176 or brendajmaass@gmail.com.
