Five-Cap December food distributions help 1,891 households

Five-Cap December food distributions help 1,891 households

SCOTTVILLE — December can be a complicated time to keep ends up, with winter heating and holiday shopping costs on top of other expenses. To help ease the burden for low-income families and senior citizens, FiveCAP, Inc. distributed hundreds of food boxes this month in Mason, Newaygo, Manistee and Lake counties. 

The back-to-back distributions took place on Dec. 3, for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) which served a total of 1,017 families in need, said Angela Anderson, community support director for FiveCAP, and on Dec. 9, through the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) distribution, which helped put food in the shelves for a total of 874 senior citizens.   

At the distribution at the Lake County FiveCAP office in Baldwin, Robert “Bear” McLeod said how safety measures, due to COVID-19, are a priority during the no-contact distributions. Volunteers wear masks, and boxes are delivered right to people’s vehicles. 

“We have the distribution set up outside so people can drive up and we deliver the boxes. Vehicles line up on the road and the recipient’s name is checked off upon arrival. We put a number on the side of their vehicle to match up with how many food boxes they get, depending on if there is more than five people in the household, in which case they get two boxes. This method has been efficient.”

McLeod said at the TEFAP distribution on Dec. 3, cars were lined up for quite a ways, and it wasn’t until about 2:30 p.m. the activity slowed down a little. 

Both the TEFAP and CFSP programs are funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Michigan Department of Education. The bi-monthly CFSP program helps supplement the diets of individuals 60 and older, with income at or below 130 percent Federal Poverty Level, so they are less likely to have to choose between good nutrition and paying for utility bills and medications. 

The quarterly distribution for the TEFAP program provides food every month for income-eligible households, and is open to residents of all ages to help extend their already stretched budget. 

For more information about FiveCAP programs, visit www.fivecap.org or contact the FiveCAP office in your county, or call (231) 757-3785.