Montgomery Area Food Bank, Two Other Agencies Partner to Feed Seniors During COVID-19 Pandemic

Montgomery Area Food Bank (MAFB) Forest Park Ministry and First Montgomery Seventh Day Adventist will be assembling resources to ensure more than 100 Seniors receive their United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA), Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Montgomery’s Garrett Coliseum.

While CSFP and its focus on providing assistance to Seniors has been in place and operational prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, considering the senior community has been identified as being highly susceptible to the life-threatening impact of the virus the distribution will be made with an abundance of caution. The distribution will be made in a similar fashion as Montgomery Area Food Bank’s Mobile Pantry deliveries, allowing recipients to stay inside their vehicles, while volunteers deliver pre-packed boxes of assistance – all while maintaining physical distancing.

Forest Park Ministry is stepping in to assist First Montgomery Seventh Day Adventist. First Montgomery SDA will provide its roster of Seniors, while Forest Park will pick up the assistance at MAFB at 10 a. m. and fill in for First Montgomery’s volunteers to conduct the distribution– again in an abundance of caution, due to the average age of First Montgomery’s volunteers.

CSFP is administered at the Federal level by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), an agency of the USDA.

CSFP food packages are not intended to comprise a complete diet, but rather are good sources of the nutrients typically lacking in the diets of the target population. CSFP is a program for low-income seniors aged 60 years or older, who are at or below 130 percent of Federal poverty income guidelines. It provides nutritious, 100% domestic USDA foods to help supplement their diet. CSFP rules and regulations are determined by the USDA Farm Bill.

The program operates in all 50 states and local non-profits are key partners in CSFP distribution. The State of Alabama’s primary USDA program for CSFP is the office of the Alabama State Department of Education Child Nutrition Food Distribution Programs – also known as Alabama Child Nutrition Program (CNP).

Per USDA regulatory requirements, a State of Alabama Plan was authored, which identified all four (4) Feeding America® nationwide food bank network members; Montgomery Area Food Bank; Community Food Bank of Central Alabama (Birmingham); Food Bank of North Alabama (Huntsville) and Feeding the Gulf Coast (Theodore, AL) as approved agencies.