The Kentucky Association of Food Banks will benefit from a $10,000 grant from the S.L. Gimbel Foundation, a component fund of the California based “Community Foundation.”
Association Programs Coordinator Sarah Vaughn says the money will help get produce from farms to hungry citizens in need. “We’re required by law to pay below wholesale prices to farmers, but the money that they receive is supposed to help to cover the cost of picking, packing, and transporting the produce to the food banks,” said Vaughn.
Vaughn says it’s hard to say how much grant money will be available to get slightly undersized or bruised produce to food banks. “I don’t know if we will end having a total of more than we did, cause we’re still waiting to hear back on some of our applications but, we will at least have level funding. We’re not going to be reduced. We’ll at least have the same amount of money, or possibly more,” added Vaughn.
Vaughn says last year almost 400 farmers were involved in the program in 66 different counties with more than 3.6 million pounds of produce distributed.