Food Distribution Warehouse
Overview
This program distributes federal surplus commodities to eligible low income families through existing community operated food pantries; and purchases and distributes bulk purchased foods to supplement these volunteer-operated food pantries and congregate feeding programs. The agency maintains a central warehouse for the storage and distribution of these foods to participating organizations.
In addition, Community Action Program of Lancaster County participates in the annual National Association of Letter Carriers' food drive each May, which results in the collection of several hundred thousand pounds of food from individual households throughout Lancaster County. Again, the Food Distribution Center offers the collected items to food pantries throughout Lancaster County.
During the 2009-2010 fiscal year, the food distribution program provided food to 40 food pantries and 8 congregate feeding sites improving the lives of roughly 20,000 unduplicated individuals.
The Lancaster County Commissioners contracts CAP of Lancaster County to administer The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the PA Department of Agriculture's State Food Purchase Program (SFPP) for Lancaster County. The Federal program gives the Food Warehouse access to commodity foods provided by the USDA, while the PA program allows for the purchase of nutritionally adequate foods to supplement the TEFAP foods.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: May I stop by and pick up food for my household at the Food Warehouse?
A: No. All food distributed by the Food Warehouse is done through area food pantries and congregate feeding sites. The Food Warehouse is not designed to handle individual requests for food. For a listing of food resources in the area go to http://www.uwlanc.org/pdf/linc/foodresources.pdf.
Q: My church is considering becoming a food pantry. How would we go about applying for food to distribute?
A: Call 293-0187, hit 0 and ask for the food distribution coordinator.
Q: Is the food old or outdated?
A: All the food distributed is within expiration dates and carefully monitored for shelf life. In fact, the food is typically turned over within days or weeks of receipt at the warehouse, which is well within the expiration periods.
Contact
Angel Castillo
601 S. Queen Street
P.O. Box 599
Lancaster, PA 17608-0599
P: 717.293.0187, ext. 355
F: 717.299.6799
E: acastillo@caplanc.org
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