JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT/Edited News Release) – The Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas announced that funding for the Statewide School Food Pantry Program has been extended through the end of the year.
In July, the Food Bank was informed that the program’s funding would end Tuesday, Sept. 30.
The School Food Pantry Program is funded by a grant from the Arkansas Department of Human Services and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
The Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas administers the statewide grant that enables 51 school districts across Arkansas to provide emergency food assistance to families with children under 18.
According to CEO Christie Jordan, DHS informed the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas that the amount of TANF funds allocated to Arkansas had decreased, resulting in program cuts.
“While I understand that DHS had to make some tough decisions regarding decreased funding, I was obviously disappointed that the School Food Pantry Program would not receive funding for the new program year,” she said. “We notified our school partners to allow as much time as possible to communicate the changes with families who receive supplemental food through the program because we anticipated that the loss of these food resources would be hard for many of the families served through the School Food Pantry Program.”
A news release stated Arkansas has a child food insecurity rate of 23.2%, well above the national average of 17.5%. Feeding America estimates more than 163,000 children in Arkansas are food-insecure.
“On Aug. 23, DHS confirmed that they were able to offer a funding extension through Dec. 31, 2024, for the School Food Pantry Program. DHS is also researching other funding sources in hopes of continuing the program in 2025,” Jordan said.
After working through some process details for the funding extension, participating schools were notified on Tuesday, Aug. 27, that the program can continue through the end of the calendar year, the news release stated.
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