USDA, Purdue Extension partners with churches for free food distribution

Local churches and nonprofits will bring boxes of dairy and fresh produce to area residents through a U.S. Department of Agriculture program teaming up with local agricultural suppliers.

Residents can pick up the boxes filled with Prairie Farms products and Gleaners produce at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jasper on Wednesday starting at 4:30 p.m. and at Holland United Methodist Church, 205 N. Second Avenue on Sunday from 5 to 7 p.m.

Boxes will also be distributed through the Christ the King parish in Ferdinand on Wednesday in the parking lot of its Ferdinand office, 341 E. 10th Street, beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Participants are asked to enter through the 10th Street entrance.

St. Isidore Catholic Parish will distribute boxes to the northeast section of the county as well.

Anyone who shows up will receive the two boxes of food no questions asked until supplies run out. The pickup at St. Joseph will have 1,000 boxes of diary and 1,000 boxes of produce while Holland will have 500 of each.

Social distancing guidelines will be in place and participants will simply have to allow volunteers to access their vehicles’ trunks for loading.

Although Redemption Christian Church, St. Joseph Catholic Church and Holland United Methodist Church are teamed up with the USDA to provide pick up points and volunteers to help with the distribution, the events are not connected to any church.

The program, Farmers to Families Food Box, is part of the USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program that was enacted by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Through the Farmers to Families Food Box program, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is partnering with national, regional and local suppliers, whose workforce has been significantly impacted by the closure of restaurants, hotels and other foodservice businesses, to purchase up to $3 billion in fresh produce, dairy and meat products.

Dairy boxes will include french onion dip, sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, pint chocolate milk, pint strawberry milk, two gallons of 2 percent milk. The produce boxes could include apples, oranges, cucumbers, cabbage, potatoes, lettuce, and more.

Locally, the program is being facilitated through the Purdue Extension office. According to Ashlee Sudbury, the Purdue Extension Community Wellness Coordinator for Dubois County, they are hoping to provide this until at least the end of August. After this week, tentative future dates for distribution could occur on July 8, July 22, August 5, August 19 at St. Joseph Catholic Church and July 12, July 26, August 9, August 23 at the Holland site.

“I personally ask that if you receive items that you cannot or will not use, please pass them on to someone who will make good use of them,” Sudbury stated in an email. ‘This is a wonderful opportunity for our community as well as all of the communities who have been able to coordinate distributions.”

“My hope is that we can be good stewards of what we have been given and can continue to serve our neighbors,” she added.

If someone would like to volunteer to assist with a distribution, they can contact Ryan Stiles (ryan@redemptionin.com) or Mike Hagerdon (mhagerdon@evdio.org) for the Jasper distribution or Ron Henke (henke_ron@yahoo.com) for the Holland Distribution.

Spencer County has distribution sites set up as well. Here is a link that information https://smcatholic.church/news/june-24-treat-yourself-to-fresh-dairy-fruits-and-vegetables