The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), Division of Nutrition, announces the availability of funding to provide emergency food and nutrition support services to food insecure populations in New York State.
Donor Name: New York State Department of Health
State: New York
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/17/2022
Grant Duration: 5 years
Details:
Food banks are the primary mechanism for ensuring access to HPNAP funded food resources statewide. One Food Bank project award will be made in each Feeding America Food Bank Region in NYS. Food banks receiving HPNAP awards will distribute food and provide nutrition support services to EFPs in their Region. Food banks must perform ALL of the following Food Bank project activities, but may also request funds for other innovative projects that enhance nutrition-related support to populations in need:
- Maintain membership in Feeding America and comply with all Feeding America policies and procedures;
- Administer HPNAP Food Grants annually by allowing eligible EFPs in the Food Bank’s Region to apply for and receive HPNAP purchased and donated foods (donated product that is distributed using HPNAP monies). This includes soliciting, receiving, and reviewing HPNAP food grant applications; establishing lines of credit for EFP grantees; providing HPNAP purchased and donated food to Regional EFPs; and ensuring that grantees submit service reports to the NYSDOH Division of Nutrition each month. Food banks are expected to allocate at least 60% of their HPNAP budget for total food costs(including separate lines for purchased food, fresh produce, and 1% or fat-free fluid milk), shared maintenance for donated food, and handling fees.
- Administer the JSY Program. Through nutrition education workshops and food demonstrations, JSY educates food insecure families on how to eat nutritious foods with a limited food budget. JSY also facilitates policy, systems, and environmental changes to increase access to healthy food in the emergency food network;
- Administer HPNAP Operations Support (OS) Grants annually to optimize Regional EFPs food supply access or provision of services. Please note that the state reserves the right to allocate OS funding to a Component A – Food Bank Project or a Component E – Resource/Grant Distribution Project – Type A Applicant in each Region. OS funding is available to Regional EFPs to supplement their operating costs including needs for staffing, utilities, space, food service disposables, transportation, and food service equipment. Administrative responsibilities include soliciting, receiving, and reviewing
- HPNAP OS grant applications; recruiting review committee members; establishing an objective scoring process; allocating funds to grantees; and monitoring compliance with established grant policies and procedures. Application development, scoring, and review processes must be approved by the designated NYSDOH HPNAP Contract Manager before implementation. Food banks are required to allocate at least 12% of their HPNAP budget for the OS Grant;
- Administer a HPNAP Nutrition Resources Management Project which provides nutrition expertise and technical assistance to food banks and Regional EFPs through a HPNAP funded Nutrition Resource Manager (NRM). The NRM is responsible for performing the following required activities:
- Evaluate foods for compliance with HPNAP nutrition policies, safety, value, storage life, handling and use, and cultural relevance;
- Educate contractor staff and Regional EFPs in the importance of providing healthy foods that support the current US Dietary Guidelines for Americans;
- Assist in educating EFP providers on HPNAP nutrition policies;
- Provide technical assistance and training to site monitoring staff on evaluating prepared meals (soup kitchen, shelter) and food packages for compliance with HPNAP nutrition policies. Follow-up on food packages and meals that do not meet HPNAP nutrition policies;
- Assess Regional EFP food and nutrition education needs and develop at least four food/nutrition education workshops to be presented by food bank staff;
- Assist in quality control of perishable/dated food products in contractorinventory, including expedited distribution of food items nearing their expiration dates, and assess food warehousing and handling practices;
- Provide technical assistance to contractor and Regional EFPs regarding food product concerns;
- Act as a consultant to contractor staff regarding food safety and sanitation practices performed by contractor and Regional EFPs, assessing and providing food safety training as needed;
- Assist the contractor in administration of HPNAP resources (OS, food safety, Food Grants, Seed Grants) to Regional EFPs;
- Conduct a minimum of 12 site monitoring visits to Regional EFPs annually;
- Participate as an active member of the HPNAP Advisory Board;
- Assist EFPs in accessing other community sources of quality food, as well as nutrition information and educational resources;
- Participate in Regional EFP community and coalition meetings to understand current social and operational issues and promote nutrition services;
- Participate in DOH, HPNAP, and NRM meetings, conference calls, and trainings;
- Participate in professional development activities to maintain current knowledge of community nutrition, and food security issues;
- Meet with the NYSDOH HPNAP Contract Manager to discuss and document progress in providing and performing the above activities; and submit a report summarizing the meeting to NYSDOH’s Division of Nutriton;
- Participate in NRM activities to assess the effectiveness of HPNAP food safety policies; and
- Assist in educating regional EFP’s regarding contractor and HPNAP nutrition policies, including the promotion of Client Choice Food Pantry Operation.
- Comply with HPNAP nutrition standards for purchased and donated foods;
- Participate in the HPNAP Food Transportation Project, which allows food bank contractors to receive donated and purchased foods from throughout the country for distribution to EFPs;
- Comply with the HPNAP Food Safety and Sanitation Policies and Procedures to support the delivery of safe foods to emergency food recipients (which includes providing food safety and sanitation supplies and training to EFPs);
- Establish or improve networking among EFPs to improve the effectiveness of emergency food services by ensuring access, food safety, nutritional quality, and cost efficiency;
- Conduct HPNAP member agency needs assessments and satisfaction studies to develop an action plan for improving services; and
- Work with local farmers to source NYS grown produce to meet program requirements for the purchase of local fresh produce.
- Optional: administer HPNAP Seed Grants annually to fund Regional EFP initiatives through a formal application process and in accordance with the Seed Grant guidelines provided in Attachment 1 – HPNAP Policy and Procedure Manual (please refer to Section 5600 for information regarding Seed Grants). As determined by NYSDOH HPNAP, food banks would be required to allocate a minimum of 2% and a maximum of 5% of their total HPNAP budget to Seed Grants. If no Seed Grant applications are approved, this allocation of funds may be redistributed within the overall food bank.
Grant Period
It is expected that contracts resulting from this RFA will have the following five year time period: July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2028.
Eligibility Criteria
Minimum Eligibility Requirement:
- Registration as a not-for-profit organization (e.g., tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the US Internal Revenue Code);
- The minimum request for funding must be $100,000 annually;
- A minimum of 12 months experience within the last 3 years providing services described in at least one of the Components of this RFA; and
- Prequalification in the NYS Grants Gateway portal, if not exempt, on the date and time the applications are due.
- Additional Minimum Eligibility Requirements for Component A – Food Bank:
- Designated member of the Feeding America network of food banks located in NYS. (Applicants applying for Component A are instructed to upload their organization’s
- certification by Feeding America as part of Attachment 3- Licenses & Certifications
- Held by Organization in the Pre-Submission Uploads section of the Grants Gateway.)
For more information, visit NYSDH.
