Fill A Glass with Hope
Fill A Glass with Hope is Pennsylvania’s First Statewide Charitable Fresh Milk Program. This partnership, formed among Feeding Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association, Mid-Atlantic Dairy, agriculture partners, and business leaders, provides fresh milk to Pennsylvania families in need through Feeding Pennsylvania’s network of Food Banks, of which Second Harvest is a member.
Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System (PASS)
During the 2015-16 program year, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture rolled out a new program aimed at putting healthy and fresh food grown or raised by Pennsylvania farmers and producers on the plates of those who typically can’t afford it. The inaugural year of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System (PASS) was a success for all partners involved, from our local family farmers to the families we serve who are struggling to make ends meet.
Through PASS, the PA Department of Agriculture provides the funds to cover the costs associated with harvesting, processing, packaging, and transporting surplus products including fruits, vegetables, eggs, dairy, poultry, pork, beef, and grains in an effort to ensure these items end up on the shelves of food banks instead of in landfills or left unharvested in the fields.
Since PASS began in June of 2016, we have been able to provide our member agencies with apples, peaches, pears, melons, corn, onions, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, eggs, milk, applesauce, tomato sauce, ground chicken and beef, for a total of 162,515 pounds.
State Food Purchase Program (SFPP)
The State Food Purchase Program allocates cash grants from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to purchase food from brokers at reduced prices and distribute it to low-income people. This program allows us to purchase and distribute more nutritious food than what may have been donated to the Food Bank. The level of funds that is distributed to each county is determined by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) based on poverty indicators for that area.
We distribute food through this program in Lehigh and Northampton counties. The four remaining counties in our service area receive their SFPP funding through other organizations.
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
The Emergency Food Assistance Program provides federal commodities for individuals at-risk for hunger based on poverty indicators for each county. Second Harvest receives the food and distributes it to the member agencies in that county that are strictly Emergency Food Providers. These agencies serve the most food-insecure populations – those people who cannot be sure when or from where their next meal is coming. Second Harvest administers TEFAP to Lehigh, Northampton, and Carbon counties.