It is with very heavy hearts that we must announce that, due to circumstances completely beyond our control, next Friday, March 7, will likely be our last food box distribution for a while.

About The Federal Grant freeze

Our Appalachian Harvest Food Box program is partially funded by federal grants. These federal grants are reimbursement based, meaning ASD must spend the money before the government pays us back. That means:

• We use our own funds to purchase fresh, nutritious food from local and regional farmers. 
• We then put that food into 1,500 to 2,000 food boxes that we donate weekly to individuals and food pantries. 
• A request is then submitted to the government to be reimbursed for those funds. 

ASD was notified that the largest source of funds for this program will either be reimbursed late or partially. There is also no guarantee that this grant will continue to be funded throughout the contract period.

All of this uncertainty from federal payments means:  

1. We are unable to purchase products from farmers and producers, which means
2. We will not have food to put in our food boxes
3. We will not be able to hire a Food Access Manager to manage the program as previously planned

How you can help

1. Contact your representatives and make your voice heard. Let them know how the loss of this program is negatively impacting you and your community. Click here to locate your representatives. Then copy and paste the italicized paragraph below – along with any other information you want to share – into the email contact form for each of your government representatives. (Feel free to replace the words “Dear Elected Official” with the name of the representative.)
   
   Dear Elected Official – I’m writing to request that you take every action possible to ensure the timely release and/or reimbursement of ALL contracted federal grant funds. The January 29 federal grant freeze and its continued domino effects are negatively impacting my family and my community by putting a stop to the Appalachian Harvest Food Box program through Appalachian Sustainable Development. This program buys fresh, nutritious food from farmers and then donates it via food boxes to individuals and food pantries in the region. This is hurting not only my family, but our area farmers and our struggling Central Appalachian community.
   
2. Click here to share your story with us so we can share it with policy makers. We want to resume this program as quickly as possible, and personal stories carry the greatest impact.  

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” This program is important to our communities, and it is so important to ASD. We are absolutely gutted to have to share this news with you. Please know we are working as hard as we can to change this situation, and our mission to grow a stronger Appalachia through agriculture has not waivered.

We will give you updates as soon as we hear about them. And we will continue to look for other opportunities to assist those who have been impacted. 

If you have questions, please email one of the following:

• Paul Stacy at pstacy@asdevelop.org
• Angie Vanover at avanover@asdevelop.org
• Hannah Gibbs at hgibbs@asdevelop.org