Food Bank of the Albemarle asks for monetary donations after facing $1 million cut in federal funds

From SamWalkerOBXNews.com. Video by Food Bank of the Albemarle

The Food Bank of the Albemarle, which provides directly and through partner agencies to the food insecure in northeastern North Carolina, (including the Cape Hatteras Food Pantry), is facing a loss of around $1 million in funding after cuts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture were announced earlier this month.

More than $11 million earmarked for food banks across North Carolina from the USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Program has been eliminated, according to a letter sent to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The federal program funded purchases of locally- and regionally-grown, produced and processed food from local farmers and producers to be distributed to local communities to “maintain or improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency”, according to a 2022 press release announcing an agreement between the USDA and North Carolina officials.

Another program that paid for locally-grown foods to be delivered to schools was also slashed this month as part of the cuts happening across federal agencies.

That has led food banks across North Carolina to issues calls-to-action for monetary donations to make up for the sudden financial gaps, with some asking for help to get the funding restored.

“We serve 15 counties here in northeastern North Carolina, which provide food to over 100 programs that feed neighbors across this region,” said Liz Reasoner, Executive Director of the Food Bank of the Albemarle in a video posted Monday.

She said around 43,000 people rely on the food bank and their partner agencies.

“People who are the working poor, living with food insecurity and don’t know where sometimes they’re going to get the income to bridge the gap for the missing meals in their household,” Reasoner said.

Posts on the food bank’s Facebook page said $1 million has been cut from their funding, which equates to around 500,000 pounds of food.

“That is really impacting the inventory that we need in order to provide food for these programs,” Reasoner said.

She called for donations to help continue providing “essential, nutritious food for the programs, to meet (our) neighbors’ needs, and to keep our community thriving.”

Reasoner said for every $5 donated, they can provide 15 meals in northeastern North Carolina.

More information about the Food Bank of the Albemarle can be found at https://afoodbank.org/