New Instructions for Food Giveaway on June 12

The second of five food giveaways this year, sponsored by the Grant County Christian Service Council and Feeding South Dakota, will be held on Wednesday, June 12, from 4-5 p.m. in the Living Word Church parking lot on the north end of Milbank on Hwy. 15. The event will be similar to the one held last month, so guests will notice several changes if they didn’t attend in May. The changes are due to the fact that Feeding South Dakota is now receiving a large percentage of their food from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). 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.

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

First, unlike the giveaways in the past, federal commodity rules require Feeding South Dakota to serve only South Dakota residents, so recipients at the Milbank distribution can only be residents of South Dakota.

‌Secondly, recipients must now meet federal income guidelines. These guidelines will be posted at the event, as well as in this article and at 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, number in the household, address, and signature of the family member receiving the food. If you attended the Milbank giveaway last month, you will already be on the TEFAP List and will only have to verify that the information is correct. If you didn’t attend last month, you will be asked to fill out a small form at the entrance verifying your family information.

‌Thirdly, because participants must now meet federal income guidelines, this changes the way guests can 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 be residing in South Dakota**, and they** must also meet the federal income guidelines.**

‌In order to pick up food for a second family, the family must fill out the TEFAP Proxy form with the guest who will be picking up the food for them. Even if you are picking up food for the same family you picked up for last month, you need to have a complete proxy form filled out for them again this time. The proxy form is essentially “their ticket” to receive food.

‌The forms will be available prior to the giveaway at the Milbank ICAP office or the proxy forms can also be printed from the Feeding South Dakota website at: https://www.feedingsouthdakota.org/general-uploads/TEFAP-Proxy-Effective-7-1-2023-through-6-30-2024.pdf

‌

As in the past, because of the event’s close proximity to Highway 15, coordinators are asking that recipients arrive no earlier than 2:30 p.m. as they won’t have volunteers available to park vehicles until that time, and  no one wants to create traffic hazards on the highway. Please do not park in the church parking lot until the volunteers are there at 2:30 p.m. 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 the back liftgate of your vehicle once it is in line, and volunteers will place the boxes in the vehicle.  Please have a space ready for the food in your vehicle so the traffic flow will not be disrupted by anyone needing additional time to make room for boxes. The church will be open during the giveaway so restrooms will be available!

Interested in volunteering for this event?. Need more information about receiving food? Feel free to text Brenda Maass, program coordinator, at 605.880.7176, or email her at brendajmaass@gmail.com.

‌