PORT ANGELES — State funding and federal food supplies will be distributed through the Port Angeles Food Bank rather than Olympic Community Action Programs.
Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP) announced this week it has transitioned the state Department of Agriculture (WSDA) food assistance programs in Clallam and Jefferson counties to the Port Angeles Food Bank.
The programs — The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), a federal program that provides food commodities, and the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP), a state program that provides money — represent about 98 percent of the food assistance programs that WSDA has in the two counties, OlyCAP program contract manager Erin Smith said.
“We have been the lead agency for the EFAP money in Clallam County since 2019,” Port Angeles Food Bank Executive Director Emily Dexter said. “OlyCAP managed that money for the Jefferson County Food Bank Association. This whole time, OlyCAP has been the lead agency for TEFAP for both counties.”
With the Port Angeles Food Bank as the lead agency for the programs, funds and food will be distributed through it to the food banks and food pantries around Clallam and Jefferson counties.
“We always had a hard time finding the right staff and resources available to run a food bank,” Smith said. “But the Port Angeles Food Bank has its logistics down, they do really great work. It just made sense to have one food bank covering both counties instead of two food banks with overlapping service areas.”
The transition was the right path to go down, OlyCAP Executive Director Holly Morgan said in a press release.
“We’re proud of the legacy we’ve built and confident that PAFB will carry this work forward with the same commitment to equity and access,” Morgan said.
Customers of the food banks will not see any difference in service.
“Most of the people who get their groceries from a food bank aren’t really aware of where their food comes from, which is fine,” Dexter said. “It’s mostly an internal change and for the people who work at the food banks and pantries.”
One difference is that the Jefferson County Food Bank Association will get funding from the state that it previously wasn’t getting, she said.
The total amount of funding for Clallam and Jefferson counties for the year will be $473,261.40, Dexter said.
“It’s important to know it really takes somewhere between $10 million and $15 million to run all of the food banks in Clallam and Jefferson counties,” she said.
OlyCAP has done a lot of this work for a long time and has done a great job, Dexter said.
“While our agencies grow and the climate and economy change, going in different directions and focusing on areas of strengths is good collaboration,” she said.
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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
