National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference

Join thousands of your fellow anti-hunger advocates nationwide at the 2023 National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference. The National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference, co-sponsored by the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) and Feeding America, and in cooperation with the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Forum, will be held May 7-9, 2023. There will be content-rich sessions where you can learn legislative best practices, explore innovative advocacy methods, and form personal connections to help you better fight hunger in your community! Please visit their website for more information.

Food Resources

Palm Beach County Senior Centers: The Palm Beach County Community Services Department’s Division of Senior and Veteran Services invites local seniors and veterans aged 60 and older to participate in complimentary breakfast and lunch options at various sites throughout the county. The program provides nutritious meals to eligible seniors at nutrition sites, senior centers, and other group settings. The congregate meal program allows older adults to socialize with other seniors at the meal sites. For a complete list of meal times and locations, click here.

SNAP Online Shopping: Online shopping is a convenient, safe, secure way to shop for food, and quickly becoming a vital resource for nutrition security and food access. Major retailers nationwide continue to make online SNAP purchasing available for EBT card holders. For more information about the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot and to find a retailer in Florida offering this resource, click here.

SNAP Calculator: Find out if you may be eligible for SNAP and an estimated amount of benefits you could receive. Use the SNAP Calculator as a quick screening tool to determine possible eligibility for food assistance. The calculator was previously available in English and Spanish and has been recently updated to include Haitian Creole! Access the SNAP calculator here. Florida Policy Institute (FPI) urges you to apply for SNAP regardless of what the calculator says. To do so please submit an application to the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) at this link.

Providers App: Propel, a mission-driven financial technology company, has launched Providers, an application that helps low-income families navigate government benefits and monitor skimming. If you’ve been a victim of benefits theft, report it immediately to your case worker and law enforcement. Currently, more than five million SNAP (food stamp) participants use Fresh EBT monthly to manage their benefits. The app is available on the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. For more information, click here.

Kroger Delivery Now Accepts EBT for SNAP Online Grocery Orders: This new payment option opens new opportunities for customers to access fresh, healthy, SNAP-eligible foods in a way that is most convenient. To begin placing digital orders today, customers can create an account through the Kroger Delivery app or at Kroger.com. Simply add an EBT account number as a new card under “My Account” and “Wallet.” For more information, please click here.

MEANS (Matching Excess And Needs for Stability) Database: MEANS (Matching Excess And Needs for Stability) Database is an online platform connecting those with excess food, like grocery stores, co-ops, and restaurants, with nearby emergency food providers who serve those in need. Their organization focuses on reducing food waste and rerouting that food to feed people facing food insecurity. To learn more, please visit their website.

Shop Simple with MyPlate: Shopping for healthy foods doesn’t have to break the bank. This nifty tool allows you to find savings in your area and discover new ways to prepare budget-friendly foods. It works by entering your zip code to find rewards and stores that accept SNAP EBT near you. To find out more, please click here.

United Way of Palm Beach County (UWPBC) Food Finder Map: The best way to access emergency food is through your local food pantry. UWPBC’s Food Finder Map is updated weekly and has been viewed over 242,000 times! Anyone looking for food or helping others find food is encouraged to look up locations on the map. You can also get help finding food locations by calling 2-1-1.

A robust food pantry system is the best way to ensure people can access emergency food. Pantries rely mainly on food from local food banks and other donations. Inflation and the end of many COVID-era food programs have decreased contributions and food available through the emergency food system. You can learn how to support your local food bank and pantry system through food donations here.

Grant Opportunities

FY 2023 WIC Enrollment via State-Level Referral Data Matching with SNAP and Medicaid: The goal of this request for applications (RFA) is to facilitate data-sharing activities that support targeted outreach and streamlined certification processes aimed at increasing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participation and retention. This RFA will provide up to $20,000,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding through a one-time cooperative agreement to an external entity that will provide financial, technical, and evaluation support to WIC State agencies to implement referral data matching, with participant consent when required, and outreach efforts. To look at eligibility requirements and deadlines, please click here.

FY 2023 Team Nutrition Grant Supporting Nutrition Education for School-Aged Children: The goal of the FY 2023 Team Nutrition Grant is to facilitate the adoption of healthy eating patterns by school-aged children (grades Pre-K through 12) and their families through the coordination and implementation of MyPlate nutrition education connected to the nutritious meals and snacks offered through USDA Child Nutrition Programs. To look at eligibility requirements and deadlines, please click here.

Palm Beach County’s Office of Community Revitalization (OCR) Neighborhood Engagement and Transformation (NEAT) Grants Program: Palm Beach County’s Office of Community Revitalization (OCR) is accepting applications for its Neighborhood Engagement and Transformation (NEAT) grant program. NEAT provides grants of up to $10,000 to neighborhood-based groups and/or organizations for resident-driven neighborhood improvement projects proposed within designated Countywide Community Revitalization Team (CCRT) areas and the Glades region. For more information on how to apply, eligible categories for funding, deadlines, and more, please click here.

Events

Back to School PBC!: Back to School PBC is an event happening on Saturday, July 22, 2023, throughout Palm Beach County. Over 10,000 students, Grades K-12 will receive a backpack filled with grade-appropriate supplies, parent resources, meals, and more! There will be locations across the county (Jupiter, West Palm Beach, Belle Glade, Delray Beach, etc.), but final locations still need to be confirmed. The registration deadline is May 15, 2023, and a student must participate in the event to receive FREE school supplies and other community resources. Please click here to register.

Florida Food Is Medicine Webinar: Join the Florida Health & Nutrition Coalition Friday, May 5, 2023, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. for the Movers & Shakers webinar series for Building the Florida Food Is Medicine ecosystem. For more information, visit their website here. To register, please click here.

Health and Wellness Fair: Faith Deliverance Church of God’s Health and Wellness Fair is on May 6, 2023, in Riviera Beach from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be COVID vaccines, HIV testing, health insurance and much more. For more information, please click here.

Banking Safety for Seniors: Join JFS for this FREE workshop to learn how to use the latest banking technology while protecting yourself online. The workshop will be Tuesday, May 9, 2023, at 9:45 am at the Weisman Delray Community Center in Delray Beach. Click here to learn more.

Heart of Palm Beach County: The Heart of Palm Beach County is the premiere event recognizing United Way’s most dedicated supporters and celebrating the impact United Way has had in the county. Join us on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. at the Hilton West Palm Beach for an uplifting evening as we celebrate this fantastic work, featuring a cocktail reception, dinner, an open bar, awards, and more! To learn more and get tickets, please click here.

Tenth Annual Moments Luncheon: Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Palm Beach County is hosting its 10^th Annual Moments Luncheon on Thursday, May 11, 2023, from 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Moments has honored all of the women in our lives for a decade—the mothers, daughters, aunts, sisters, and friends who tirelessly ensure we all have moments of joy to share. For more information on the event, please click here.

Mental Health & Wellness Resource Festival: The West Palm Beach Mental Health Coalition’s 5^th Annual Mental Health & Wellness Resource Festival is happening on Saturday, May 20, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. The event will be at Keiser University Flagship Campus (Student Life Center) in West Palm Beach and will include resource tables, dance performances, orators, music, and “lots of give-a-ways!” To find out more, click here.

Girls Force Task Force (GVTF) Self Care Event: The GVTF Self-Care event brings together community partners, professional women and girls for a day of self-care, because we believe that girls deserve to be understood in how they learn and experience the world. Self Care event will take place at Vita Nova Inc on Saturday, May 20, 2023 from 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. To register, click here.

Intriguing News

• Hurricane Preparedness: National Hurricane Preparedness Week is April 30-May 6, 2023. Be ready for hurricane season. Take action TODAY to be better prepared for when the worst happens. Understand your risk from hurricanes, and begin pre-season preparations now. Ensure you understand how to interpret forecasts and alerts and know what to do before, during, and after a storm. If you live in hurricane-prone areas, you are encouraged to prepare before hurricane season begins on June 1. For more information, please click here. For more hurricane prep resources, please visit this website.
• Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) Future Trends
  • More Young Adults are Using Food Pantries: Food pantries have been growing significantly as a resource for people under 25, the group most likely to be ALICE or to live in poverty in all United For ALICE partner states. Reports consistently find higher rates of food insecurity among college students. In response, university-affiliated food pantries rose from four in 2008 to 121 in 2014, and expansion continues across the country. To find out more, click here.
  • As the U.S. Population Ages, the Number of Food-Insecure Seniors (65+) is Also Increasing: Due to increased financial hardship and the aging population, the number of food-insecure seniors more than doubled from 2001 to 2016, to 4.9 million. If this trend continues at the current rate, as expected, there will be more than 8 million food-insecure seniors by 2050. To find out more, click here. For Florida-specific data on ALICE individuals, please click here.
• Solve Picky Eating: Picky eating is prevalent, particularly for toddlers and preschoolers, perhaps, even with adolescents. Feeding toddlers and kids is challenging, but some resources and tips could help! Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding. Visit the Kids Eat in Color website for more help and information on child nutrition and feeding. Click here for tips to solve picky eating, and click here for ideas on how to talk to kids about food.

Food Programs

• SNAP Communications Toolkit: SNAP Feeds Our Community Campaign (SNAPFeeds.us) has put together a Communications Toolkit for individuals and agencies to uplift SNAP’s many positive impacts on individuals, families, and the community. Access the Toolkit here.
• “What is WIC?” Downloadable Videos: The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Special Supplemental Nutrition Program caters to pregnant women, women after giving birth/postpartum, new and breastfeeding mothers, infants, and children under five who fulfill the income requirements. “What is WIC?” videos are available for download in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Portuguese to help inform residents of the WIC program and its benefits. We encourage our partners to share these videos widely among their networks, including clients, neighbors, and professional partners. The videos are ideal for showing in waiting rooms, attaching to digital newsletters, or sending directly to interested residents. Please click here to access the videos. To schedule an appointment, contact the Florida WIC Department at 1-800-342-3556. Please click here to look at a list of things to bring for your appointment.
• Nourishing Communities – How SNAP Became Florida’s Most Effective Anti-Hunger Program: While the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has grown to be one of the nation’s most powerful poverty reduction tools, SNAP’s effectiveness is the culmination of roughly 100 years of bipartisan support and growing pains, as various roadblocks impeded earlier food assistance programs from reaching their full potential in fighting food insecurity. Nevertheless, there is still work to be done around SNAP on the state level to reverse course on policies that have led to inequitable access to the program. Learn more about SNAP in Florida by reading Florida Policy Institute’s report.
• FRAC Applauds the U.S. Department of Agriculture Efforts to Expand Community Eligibility: The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) applauds the USDA’s recent announcement of a proposed rule to expand the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). CEP allows high-poverty schools and districts to offer breakfast and lunch at no charge to all students and reduces administrative paperwork and costs for schools, increases school meal participation, eliminates stigma, maximizes federal reimbursements, and makes it easier to implement Breakfast in the Classroom and other innovative breakfast models. Prior to the pandemic, about one in one in three schools were offering free meals to all students through CEP. To read more about this effort, please click here.
• Discover MyPlate – Nutrition Education for Kindergarten: The USDA’s Team Nutrition initiative provides fun resources that foster healthy food choices and physically active lifestyles during children’s critical developmental and learning period: kindergarten. Now there are more recipes, food cards, emergent readers, Spanish-language components, and fun new resources showing where food comes from! SNAP-Ed educators can use the materials to assist teachers in introducing the five food groups and MyPlate to kindergarten children. All materials are free and can be found here.
• Affordable Connectivity Program: The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) provides eligible low-income households a subsidy of up to $30 per month on internet service plans offered by participating internet service providers and up to $75 per month for eligible households on Tribal lands. Eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if the household contributes more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price. For more information and to register, please click here.

Job Opportunities

• United Way of Palm Beach County (UWPBC) Data Entry Specialist: Responsible for optimizing the development process with data entry, database management, data integrity, analysis, data extraction, and report customization to support fundraising efforts and donor engagement. This position reports directly to the Senior Vice President of Resource Development. It directly contributes to United Way of Palm Beach County by maintaining the overall integrity and quality of the Andar donor management platform through input donor information for individual donors and organizations. For more details on the position and how to apply, please click here.
• United Way of Palm Beach County (UWPBC) Staff Accountant: Responsible for providing financial and administrative support, including processing and reconciliation of cash receipts between systems, preparation of general or adjusting journal entries, updating general ledger work papers, and assisting with supporting schedules relating to grants, programs, or other donor-related activity. This position reports to the Director of Finance and works closely with the Senior Accountant. For more details on the position and how to apply, please click here.
• FLIPANY Hiring Summer AmeriCorps Members: FLIPANY currently hires AmeriCorps members to work with their Summer Food Service Program. All hired members would receive a stipend for participation and are eligible for an Education Award once the season has been completed. For more information, please click here.
• CROS Ministries Gleaning Program Assistant Director: This position is a program assistant to the Director of the Gleaning Program, aiming to feed hungry people through the recovery and distribution of nutritious produce that would otherwise be wasted. This is a full-time position with seasonal schedule fluctuations. Beginning hourly rate is $17-$20, depending on experience. For more details on the position and how to apply, please click here.

Hunger Relief Meetings

We could not do our work without you! The Hunger Relief Initiative uses the Collective Impact Model to implement the Palm Beach County Hunger Relief Plan and make sustainable, long-term changes to reduce hunger in Palm Beach County. We do this work through our Hunger Relief Advisory Council and the Council’s work groups and subcommittees.

The staff regularly convenes the Hunger Relief Advisory Council, six Work Groups, and three Subcommittees. Please send us an email to learn more.

Partner Spotlight

Marine Education Initiative (MEI)

Marine Education Initiative (MEI): In March 2021, MEI initiated its Aquaponics Food Security Program with the aim of addressing food insecurity in Palm Beach County during the pandemic. To date, this program has provided over 50,000 meals to those in need and educated hundreds of youth on sustainable agriculture and self-sufficiency through backyard gardening.

The produce is harvested and packaged in a controlled environment, ensuring freshness and quality year-round. Additionally, MEI’s commitment to local deliveries minimizes the carbon footprint of transporting food. This program has garnered support from esteemed organizations such as the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation, Impact 100 Palm Beach County, JM Family Enterprises, and The Quantum Foundation.

To further expand their impact, MEI recently upgraded to a 7,500 sq. ft. facility, increasing their agricultural capacity. At total capacity, the new facility can produce over 200,000 heads of lettuce annually! MEI celebrated its grand opening on April 22 at this new facility in Delray Beach and presented its initiative to the community.