Important Changes for Food Giveaway on May 8

‌The first food giveaway of 2024, sponsored by the Grant County Christian Service Council and Feeding South Dakota, will be held on Wednesday, May 8, from 4–5  p.m. in the Living Word Church parking lot in north Milbank on Hwy. 15.  Several changes have been made to the giveaway because Feeding South Dakota now receives a large percentage of their food from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)*, a program of the USDA.

Because of the involvement of the federal government, there are specific requirements and rules that must be followed.  

1. Only South Dakota residents are eligible to receive food. Unlike the giveaways in the past, federal commodity rules require Feeding South Dakota to serve only South Dakota residents. Recipients at the Milbank distribution can only be residents of South Dakota.  

2. Recipients must meet federal income guidelines. The guidelines will be posted at the event, as well as in this article, and in the Milbank ICAP office. Households will not be asked for verification of income, but will self-report and indicate whether they meet the income eligibility guidelines. At registration, households receiving food will be required to provide their name, the number of people in the household, address, and signature of the family member receiving the food. This information will then be compiled into a database at Feeding South Dakota and will be reported to TEFAP. (See instructions and info required below.)

3. Changes for picking up food for another family. Because participants must meet federal income guidelines, it changes the way guests can now pick up food for another family.  As in the past, you may pick up food for ONE other family, however with the new regulations, this family must also reside in South Dakota and must also meet the federal income guidelines. In order to pick up food for a second family, that family must fill out the TEFAP Proxy form with the guest who will be picking up the food.  The forms will be available prior to the giveaway at the Milbank ICAP office, or by contacting the site coordinator, BrendaMaass, at brendajmaass@gmail.com.  The forms will also be available the day of the event, but must be completed and presented at registration before food can be given for the second family.

As in the past, because of the church’s close proximity to Highway 15, please arrive no earlier than 2:30 p.m. as no volunteers are available to park vehicles until that time, and we don’t want to create traffic hazards on the highway. Please do not park in the church parking lot until the volunteers are there at 2:30 to give parking instructions. 

If you wish to pick up food for your family, you will enter the lot where instructed, and will receive further traffic flow directions from there. Simply open your trunk or back lift gate of your vehicle once you are in line. Volunteers will place the boxes in the vehicle.  Please have the space ready in your vehicle for the box so the flow of traffic will not be disrupted by taking additional time to make room for your food.  

The church will be open during the giveaway; restrooms will be available.

How to speed things up:  Please note that the new registration process will take more time to complete.  Please be prepared to present your family information quickly and clearly. If all guests have the following information printed on a sheet of paper, and ready to hand to the volunteers who are registering the families, it will speed up the process. It will also guarantee the information is correctly reported to Feeding South Dakota.

Information required:  
(1) First and Last Name
(2)  Number of children in the family ages  0-17,  Number of adults in the family ages 18-59,  and Number of adults in the family ages 60+ 
(3) Address, City, and Zip Code.

Need more information? Interested in volunteering for this event? If you are interested in volunteering for this event, need more information about receiving food, or need to get a copy of the PROXY form, feel free to text Brenda Maass, program coordinator, at 605.880.7176, or email her at brendajmaass@gmail.com

*TEFAP is a federal program that helps supplement the diets of low-income Americans by providing them emergency food assistance at no cost, and the USDA provides the products and funds to operate this program.