The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development is seeking applications for its CDBG-CV Addressing Food Insecurity Grant Program.
Donor Name: Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
State: Tennessee
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/31/2023
Size of the Grant: $500,000
Details:
The COVID-19 pandemic has had several impacts across the country, and the State of Tennessee is no different. One the major impacts is inflation as result of supply and labor shortages. The Consumer Price Index for food in September 2022 was 11.2% higher than a year earlier. This level of inflation has resulted in household budgets tightening. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2020 households in the lowest quintile of the Consumer Expenditure Survey spent 27% of household income on food, while also spending the least amount of total dollars. According to Feeding America, over 800,000 Tennesseans are food insecure, the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that over 27% of Tennesseans are designated as low-income without close access to a supermarket (1 mile in urban areas and 10 miles in rural areas).
TNECD has granted $15 million dollars to the five regional food banks that cover Tennessee for the purchase and distribution of food. The purpose of this program is to increase the capacity of participating partner agencies statewide through the purchase of necessary equipment and supplies.
Funding Information
- Total Amount of Grant Program: $10,000,000
- Maximum Allowable per County: $500,000
Eligibility Criteria
Only local county governments are eligible to be direct recipients of these grant funds. TNECD anticipates that local governments will partner with their participating partner agencies to carry out this grant. Partner agencies and their needs will be identified in the application. Counties that are successfully awarded will purchase that requested equipment and supplies to be distributed to the participation partner agencies. Exceptions may be granted only by TNECD and prior to the submission of the application.
Eligible Activities
- This program is focused solely on purchasing equipment and supplies needed for partner agencies to increase their capacity to distribute food to low-income communities and populations. The following are example of grant eligible equipment, but it is not exhaustive:
- Refrigerators
- Freezers
- Ovens
- Shelving
- Coolers
- Freezer blankets
- Food preparation tables
- Food delivery vehicles
- Supplies for distribution of food (bags, boxes, packaging, etc.)
- The following items are specifically ineligible under this program:
- Equipment that would be fixed and become part of the property
- Construction activities
- Costs associated with operations and management (Salaries, benefits, rent, utilities, etc.)
- Purchase of computers, laptops, notebooks, tablets, phones, etc.
For more information, visit TDECD.
