Commodity Program to Expand

Pennsylvania’s Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) will triple in size yet this year.  As a result, CSFP food packages will be made available in 22 counties that currently do not have the Program.

According to Sheila Christopher, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Regional Food Banks (PARF), between now and June the following counties will be added to the Program: Cambria, Berks, Schuylkill, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, Wayne, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Susquehanna, Wyoming, and York counties.  The distributing agents in these areas will be regional food banks:  the Greater Berks Food Bank, the Greater Philadelphia Food Bank, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley, the Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank, and the York County Food Bank.

The Program provides a box of food each month to needy seniors and to children under the age of six who are not enrolled in WIC.  The Program is funded entirely by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The Program began a year ago with an authorized caseload of 5,000.  Under a plan developed by the PA Department of Agriculture and PARF, those 5,000 cases were distributed among Greene, Fayette, Allegheny, Indiana, and Westmoreland counties.  Due to an increase in federal funding, the USDA increased Pennsylvania’s caseload to 15,120 for the current fiscal year.  Most of these additional cases will be allocated to new counties.

Christopher stated:  “We in PARF are pleased and honored to be able to expand this fantastic program.  The partnership between PARF and the Department of Agriculture continues to be proactive in bringing in resources to ease the burdens of those who made this Commonwealth so great.” Readers interested in learning more about the Program should contact their local food bank or call Christopher at 724-743-3000.

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