U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) and South Carolina Department of Education (SCDOE) responded to severe flooding in South Carolina, by using of the National School Lunch Program, at the Richland County Schools – District One – Central Kitchen Facility, Columbia, SC, to provide disaster congregate feeding, on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015.
In times of emergency, FNS coordinates with state and federal partners, as well as local volunteer organizations, such as the American Red Cross and Salvation Army, to provide USDA Foods to shelters and other mass feeding sites and, in limited cases, distribute food packages directly to households in need. USDA Foods are 100% domestically produced, processed and procured agricultural commodities that are made available to schools, tribes, and low-income individuals through FNS Nutrition Assistance Programs. Once retail food stores reopen, if survivors still need nutrition assistance and the area has received a ‘Presidential Disaster Declaration with Individual Assistance,’ State agencies may request to operate D-SNAP. People who may not normally qualify for nutrition assistance benefits may be eligible for D-SNAP if they had disaster-related expenses, such as loss of income, damage to property, relocation expenses, and, in some cases, loss of food due to power outages. Those already participating in the SNAP may be eligible for supplemental benefits under D-SNAP. For more information please visit this web site: www.fns.usda.gov/disaster.
Central Kitchen Facility is the only central kitchen in South Carolina. They provide meals to 32 schools. Operations start at 4-5AM. The meals are comprised of 10-11,000 lunches, 6,000 breakfasts, 3,100 snacks, 3,100 supplemental meals, district-wide catering and more. To accomplish this there are 38 employed here and a total of 150 across the entire operation of satellite kitchens and other facilities. 14 truck move food and commodities from here to where they are needed. USDA photo by Lance Cheung.
Posted by USDAgov on 2015-12-15 22:13:56
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