Hunger Free Communities

 

As defined in the H.Con.Res. 302(102nd Congress), the 14 goals of the Hunger-Free Communities initiative are:
1.Having a community-based emergency food delivery network that coordinates the services of programs such as food pantries, food banks, and congregate meals facilities.
2. Assessing food insecurity problems and evaluating existing services in the community to determine necessary strategies for responding to unmet needs.
3.Establishing a group of individuals, including low-income participants, to develop and to implement policies and programs to combat food insecurity, to monitor responsiveness of existing services, and to address underlying causes and factors related to hunger.
4.Participating in federally assisted nutrition programs that should be easily accessible to targeted populations, such as the Federal programs that provide school breakfast, school lunch, summer food, child care food, and food for homeless and older individuals.
5.Effectively integrating public and private resources, including local businesses, to alleviate food insecurity.
6.Having an education program about food needs of the community and the need for increased local citizen participation in activities to alleviate food insecurity.
7.Having available information and referral services for accessing both public and private programs and services.
8.Having initiatives for alleviating food shopping constraints through the development of creative food resources such as community gardens, buying clubs, food cooperatives, community-owned and operated grocery stores, and farmers' markets.
9.Carrying out activities to identify and target food services to high-risk populations.
10.Having adequate transport and distribution of food from all resources.
11.Coordinating food services with park and recreation programs and other community-based outlets to which residents of the area would have easy access.
12.Improving public transportation, human service agencies, and food resources.
13.Having nutrition education programs for low-income citizens to enhance good food-purchasing and food-preparation skills and to heighten awareness of the connection between diet and health.
14.Having a program for collecting and distributing nutritious food, either agricultural commodities in farmers' fields or foods that have already been prepared, that would otherwise be wasted.

Deleted 02/05/2016 (Archived.) 10.583 Agency: Department of Agriculture
Office: Food and Nutrition Service Cooperative Agreements (Discretionary Grants) Not Applicable. These grants will be awarded under authority provided by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, Section 4405, 7 U.S.C. 8701. This section allows the Secretary of Agriculture to award grants to meet the hunger free communities goals described in the H. Con. Res. 302 (102nd Congress), Public Law 102-PIL 110-246, 8701 U.S.C 4405. Grant applications must include at least one of the 14 goals of the Hunger-Free Communities Initiative as defined in the H.Con.Res. 302 (102nd Congress). The grant will be used by the grant recipient to provide the targeted community with assistance for a hunger-free community. The Federal share of the cost of the activities funded by these grants shall not exceed 80 percent. The grantee is responsible for the remaining 20 percent. Grantees will be allowed to use the grant funds for the duration of the project period, not to exceed two years. These are collaborative grants, and applicants are required to partner with one or more organizations in their communities. Applicants are also required to partner with Food Policy Councils or their functional equivalent at the local level or include the creation of a Food Policy Council as part of their application should one not serve their community. Any individual or family who is a part of the targeted community and meets the guidelines as set by the grant recipient is eligible. Financial data, DUNS number. OMB Circular No. A-87 applies to this program. Preapplication coordination is not applicable. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372. OMB Circular No. A-102 applies to this program. OMB Circular No. A-110 applies to this program. The Grant solicitation will provide information on evaluation criteria. A panel will convene to assign points and finalize selection. Contact the headquarters or regional office, as appropriate, for application deadlines. From 30 to 60 days. The deadline for submission will be stipulated in the request for applications. A post award discussion may take place on request. None. Applications that meet the screening requirements will be referred to an appropriate technical review panel. Each panel member will rank the applications assigned to them by score from highest to lowest. Applications are scored based on the defined community’s need for the project, a comprehensive project design, organizational capacity for successfully completing the project combined with strong community partnerships, and budget criteria.

The selection official will consider each panel’s recommendations; however he or she may consider other USDA or FNS priorities such as geographic, demographic or socioeconomic diversity, and agency priorities in addition to the scores assigned by the technical review panels. The selection official may also determine that, based on their scores, few of the applications are of technical merit. In such a case, FNS may make fewer awards or smaller awards than expected or make no awards. In addition, FNS reserves the option to select one or more lower rated applications in order to achieve a diversity of projects and regional representation. Grant funds may be used for any initiative that addresses the immediate food and nutrition needs of people experiencing hunger, improves access to food as part of a comprehensive service, develops new resources and strategies to help reduce hunger in the community, prevents hunger, assesses the extend and causes of hunger in the community, and/or develops a comprehensive plan to end hunger in the community. Grants may not be used for:
•constructing, expanding or repairing a facility or equipment; and
•purchasing equipment other than computer hardware and software, warehouses, storage space

"Equipment" means an article of nonexpendable, tangible personal property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization level established by the non-profit organization for financial statement purposes, or $5,000. (2 CFR Part 230, Appendix B, Selected Items of Cost) Each unit purchase at $4999.99 and below is considered materials. Materials that are necessary and related to the project are an allowable cost if approved by the agency. $5 million. Yes, program reports are required on a quarterly basis as well as one final report 90 days after end of project. Reports required quarterly and at year's end. Yes, progress reports are required on a quarterly basis as well as one final report 90 days after end of project. Reports are required quarterly and at year's end. Program reports will provide information on performance and progress to meet grant objectives. In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133. No Data Available. Statutory formulas are not applicable to this program.
Matching Requirements: Percent: 20.%. 20% matching is required. The matching criteria is available in the RFA.
MOE requirements are not applicable to this program. Two years from identified start date. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: by letter of credit. None. Raymond Magee Food and Nutrition Service
Office of the Chief Communications Officer, External and Governmental Affairs
3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22302 Email: Raymond.Magee@fns.usda.gov Phone: (703) 305-2657 No Data Available 12-3539-0-1-605. (Salaries) FY 13 Not Separately Identifiable; FY 14 est $0; and FY 15 Not Separately Identifiable There is $1 million set aside for grants in Model 1: Planning and Assessment Grants. These grants will be awarded up to $100,000 per grantee. If all of the $1 million is not used, the unused funds from Model 1 will be moved to funding for Model 2. Applicants in Model 1 will assess the hunger and food insecurity in their community and create a plan to become hunger-free.

The remaining $4 million is set aside for grants in Model 2: Implementation Grants. Organizations applying for Model 2 grants must have already conducted an assessment and developed a plan to end hunger in their community as a condition of application. A total award pool of approximately $4 million will be awarded with maximum awards varying by the population of the community: up to $2 million for cities with a population greater than two million, up to $1 million for metropolitan areas with a population greater than 50,000 but less than two million, and up to $1 million for areas with less than 50,000 residents. legislative language Fiscal Year 2013: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2014: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2015: No Current Data Available