Federal Funding to Help Cover Costs of Emergency Feeding Program

Sen. Brian Schatz. Wikimedia image.

New federal funding headed to Hawai‘i will cover the cost of meals provided to people who test positive for COVID-19 and high-risk individuals during the pandemic.

On Thursday, US Sen. Brian Schatz announced the Hawai‘i Department of Human Services will receive more than $1.18 million. During the pandemic, the Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority established an emergency feeding program to prepare and deliver more than 400,000 meals to more than 30,000 vulnerable community members.

“This federal funding will help pay back the cost of the meals provided to the most vulnerable in our community and save our state some money,” said Senator Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “No one should go hungry during a public health emergency, so we’ll keep working to bring home more federal dollars to help Hawai‘i families put food on the table.”

This federal grant, which comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, reimburses the state for the costs of running this program in the month of October 2020 — helping save the state nearly $1.2 million.