(WHTM) – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced the reopening of the food recovery infrastructure grants program.
“I know I’m not supposed to pick favorites for grants. Like it’s like picking your favorite kid, but this is probably my favorite grant program,” said Jessica Shirley, Department of Environmental Protection acting secretary.
This time around the grant will award up to $50,000 per applicant. The grant helps equip organizations with whatever they need to keep food fresh and prevent it from spoiling and ending up in a landfill.
Penn State receives over $500K for wine, grape industry research
“Like refrigerators and coolers or vehicles to transport the fresh items from where it is to where it is needed, and microwaves to help prepare the food for people who need it,” said Shirley.
This is the third time the grant is available since it kicked-off in 2019. In 2020, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank was awarded $200,000 from this grant.
“We were able to replace some aging trucks, replace them with vehicles that were refrigerated, four of them, and a van for one of our partner agencies that’s actually run by our food bank,” said Joe Arthur, CEO of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.