Month: April 2020

Description:

Emergency Allotments to Current SNAP Households allows the State of Alabama to increase “current monthly allotment up to the maximum monthly allotment for a household of that size.” Emergency allotments will be added to the existing EBT card for March and April.

Description:

• Summer Meals Non-congregate Feeding
• Meal Times: This waiver allows for the serving of meals outside of the standard meal times
• Non-congregate Feeding: This waiver will minimized potential exposure to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), by allowing the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the Summer Food Service Program, to serve meals outside of the standard group setting.
• Afterschool Activity: USDA has granted a nationwide waiver that grants states the flexibility to serve afterschool snacks and meals outside of a structured environment and without an educational or enrichment purpose. 
• Nationwide Meal Pattern Waiver: FNS waives, for all states, the requirements at 7 CFR 210.10(b) and (c), 220.8(b) and (c), 225.16(d), and 226.20, to serve meals that meet the meal pattern requirements during the public health emergency.
• Nationwide Parent/Guardian Meal Pickup Waiver: FNS has begun granting waivers that allow states approved for non-congregate feeding, greater flexiblities which allow parents and/or guardians to pick up meals for their children, without the student needing to be present. 
• Nationwide Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Data Waiver: FNS is is extending the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) deadlines for the School Year 2020-2021
• Nationwide Waivers of Child Nutrition Monitoring: USDA has granted a nationwide waiver, providing flexibilities to certain onsite monitoring requirements for the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the Summer Food Service Program
• Area Eligibility SFSP/SSO: This waiver allows SFSP and SSO sponsors in good standing to operate open sites in areas approved by ALSDE and consistent with the State plan, but that are not located in areas in which poor economic conditions exist
• 60 Day Reporting Waiver: FNS has extended the deadline for all state agencies, school food authorities and organizations by 60 days.

Descriptions:

• Physical Presence Waiver: The approval to waive the physical presence requirement includes the ability to defer anthropometric and bloodwork requirements necessary to determine nutritional risk
• Remote Benefit Issuance Waiver: This waiver allows Alabama WIC to remotely issue benefits to any participant
• Food Package Substitution Waiver: USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) approves the waiver request through May 31, 2020 in the following manner: Whole Wheat/Whole Grain Bread. Participants will be allowed to substitute authorized whole grains in package sizes up to 24 oz. when 16 oz. packages are unavailable.
• Separation of Duties: This waives the requirement that prohibits a single employee from determining eligibility for all certification criteria and issuing food instruments, cash-value vouchers or supplemental food for the same participant

(Source)

The USDA’s Meals 4 Kids website has not been reliably accessible to view sites in Alabama that are providing school meals to children during the COVID-19 crisis. End Child Hunger in Alabama (ECHA) is including this modified spreadsheet, retrieved from the USDA website earlier this week. Sites that have passed the “end date” of the program, or sites that have a future “start date” are not included. The contact phone number for each site is included, and we highly recommend that all questions be directed to the listed contact person. The spreadsheet is alphabetized by county. We will provide updates on this page when available.

From the www.servealabama.gov website:

FOOD BANKS: The need for food banks and food pantries during this national emergency is anticipated to grow with reduced and/or disappearing paychecks and children no longer getting their regular school meals because of the school closures. Many people who have never needed these services before will now find themselves needing food assistance for the first time.

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• Community Food Bank of Central Alabama: The safety of our staff, volunteers, and community remains our highest priority. We are taking extra precautions, including increased cleaning and sanitizing of our facility.  At this time, volunteer sessions in our warehouse are cancelled through the end of the month. Keep an eye out HERE for opportunities to help with Mobile Pantry distributions. Please email volunteer@feedingal.org

Alabama Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (ALVOAD) has provided specific guidelines for Volunteers and Volunteer Organization serving the community during the COVID-19 crisis. Please consult the attached document for details:

According to www.AL.com, Alabama SNAP beneficiaries will receive the maximum benefits available for their family size, regardless of household income, during the months of March and April. (Read more here).

In addition, SNAP recipients will now be able to purchase some grocery items online through Amazon.com. (Read more here)

View recorded webinars from No Kid Hungry’s Virtual Rural Child Hunger Summit (3/31/2020). The webinars include Opening Remarks + COVID-19 Update; Racial Equity and Community Resilience in Food Systems, Policy, and Program Delivery; Power of Native Youth: Creating Solutions to Hunger Issues and Addressing COVID-19; Healthcare’s Role in Feeding Hungry Children During a Public Health Emergency; and Embracing Community Perspectives and cultures in Program Design and Delivery. Each webinar features discussion of addressing food-insecurity during the COVID-19 crisis.

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Opening Remarks + COVID-19 Update   Speakers: Gay Anderson, Child Nutrition Director, Brandon Valley School District & SNA National President. Jeremy Everett, Founder and Executive Director of the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty

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Racial Equity and Community Resilience in Food Systems, Policy, and Program Delivery Speakers: Dr. Monica White, Author and Associate Professor, Environmental Justice, University of Wisconsin-Madison Marlysa D. Gamblin, Domestic Policy Advisor, Racial and Gender Divides, Bread for the World Institute

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Power of Native Youth: Creating Solutions to Hunger Issues and Addressing COVID-19 Moderator: Colby Duren, Director, Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative, University of Arkansas Speakers: Robert Baldy, Community Garden Manager, Klamath-Trinity Resource Conservation District Ellise David, Growing Tribal Farms Program Coordinator, Oregon State University Extension Lucas Humblet, Seed Regeneration Supervisor, Dream of Wild Health

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Healthcare’s Role in Feeding Hungry Children During a Public Health Emergency Moderator: Jason Gromley, Director, Advocacy & Government Relations, Share Our Strength Speakers: Lynn Knox, Statewide Health Care Liaison, Oregon Food Bank Danielle LaFleur, Community Outreach Coordinator, Saint Joseph Health System Maria Welch, Innovations Program Manager, Geisinger

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Embracing Community Perspectives and Cultures in Program Design and Delivery Moderator: Nonie Woolf, Chair, FAST Blackfeet Speakers: Rev. William Kearney, Research Associate & Community Outreach Manager, Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Dr. Suzanne Stluka, Associate Director, Montana State University Extension Taylor Miller, Director, Western Tidewater Community Produce Hub, Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore

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