Community Food Grant Program Update – St. Pete First United Methodist Church & St. Pete Free Clinic
By Sarah Wiemert, Healthy St. Petersburg, Health Planner II
In its inaugural year, The Community Food Grant Program funded nine local organizations committed to advancing health equity through food security projects with $300,000. In the final months of the project terms, we review two organizations and the incredible work they are doing through the grant.
St. Pete First United Methodist Church | $45,000
Helping Hands for Hungry Kids
Healthy food pantries located in four public schools within Healthy Food Priority Areas to serve families once a week.
St. Pete First United Methodist Church has been working to reduce hunger in the City for over 100 years. Through a strong partnership with St. Pete Free Clinic, the organization has been able to open three school food pantries, with a fourth planned in the near future. Currently, pantries operate with the power of school social workers and volunteers at New Heights Elementary, Melrose Elementary, and Thurgood Marshall Middle Schools. Pantries operate Thursdays and Fridays after school lets out and caregivers are notified of the service via weekly phone calls from the principal, flyers, and the school marquees. As of October, these pantries have reached 671 people in 178 households and have distributed 5,703.38 pounds of shelf stable and fresh produce and proteins.
FUMC has shown a great willingness to adapt to the complex environment of a school and the families they serve. For example, close communication with pantry volunteers has led to improvements in the stocking and distribution plan to account for the unique circumstances of students and how they travel to and from school, how far they must travel, and accessibility of the school pantry to parents and guardians. FUMC has been able to work with schools to build their operational capacity and meet increased demand due to the lapse in November SNAP benefits. Overall, FUMC has increased the number of households served.
To learn more about FUMC and their programs, to volunteer, or to donate, visit stpetefirst.org
St. Pete Free Clinic | $50,000
Food Support for No-Cost Grocery
Supporting the purchase of four truckloads of nutritious food for St. Pete Free Clinic’s expanded warehouse space in the Skyway district, to be distributed to more than 100 food pantries across St. Petersburg including the We Help choice model pantry.
Since the 1980s, St. Pete Free Clinic has been offering a range of services that address the social determinants of health for low-income and Asset Limited, Income constrained, Employed (ALICE) individuals in Pinellas County and St. Petersburg. In concert, St. Pete Free Clinic (SPFC) programs reduce the economic burden of monthly, out-of-pocket expenses for individuals to contribute to long-term economic stability and health.
The food bank program at SPFC distributes healthy foods to over 60 partners throughout Pinellas County, services 40,000 individuals through the We Help choice food pantry, and offers flexible “last mile” connections to mobile food distribution sites through organizational partnerships and regularly at the Deuces Drive-Through pantry. The Community Food Grant Program funding allows SPFC to provide 119,000 meals to individuals in Healthy Food Priority Areas of St. Petersburg out of the operations new warehouse space in the Skyway Marina District. Seventy percent of the foods offered are fresh fruits, vegetables, and proteins. SPFC regularly assesses the effectiveness of their programming; through the We Help FRESH Pantry client survey, “93% of clients reported that receiving food through SPFC reduced their monthly expenses and had a positive impact on their budget. Additionally, 72% of clients report that the food provided has been beneficial to their health and that they would not have been able to access fresh food without the pantry”. SPFC also regularly relates the direction of their work to relevant local data; one of these sources is the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg’s Health Equity Profile. Using this data, SPFC was able to determine that of individuals accessing the indoor choice and Deuce’s Drive-Through pantry, two zip codes most prominently represented were strongly correlated with those found in the Profile to have stated a prioritized need for increased food and nutrition security. SPFC has proven their ability to adapt to the community’s needs. In 2020 when demand during the COVID-19 pandemic doubled to 20 million pounds of food, SPFC made their operations more efficient and increased their capacity to serve. This November, SPFC was able to expand the public hours for their pantries and partner with local organizations for increased services in anticipation of the loss of SNAP benefits for clients.
To learn more about SPFC and their programs, to volunteer, or to donate, visit thespfc.org.
