Charitable meals mini-grants available
SAN JOSE – Santa Clara County’s Consumer and Environmental Protection Agency (CEPA) charitable feeding pilot program is accepting applications from now through March 18, 2020. The grants are designed to alleviate some of the costs for using permitted commercial kitchens for charitable organizations that prepare meals.
Grants will be awarded for up to $1,000 to non-profits to pay for costs associated with renting a permitted commercial kitchen in Santa Clara County for preparing charitable meals.
Currently, many organizations that prepare charitable meals do not own or have access to permitted commercial kitchens. Commercial kitchens are designed to support food preparation and are known to enhance food safety. The inability of organizations to own or access permitted commercial kitchens can result in organizations operating out of compliance with State law, significantly limiting the type of food they are able to serve, or spending significant resources to redesign an existing kitchen or rent a permitted facility.
In an effort to meet the basic needs of the food insecure public within the County, the County’s pilot program provides funding for non-profit organizations to rent space for meal preparation in properly permitted commercial kitchens.
“Food safety is an absolute essential. I get that,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, who championed the program. “But,” said Simitian, “changes in State law in recent years have precluded well-intentioned non-profits from providing a healthy, hot meal to people who need it. I’ve heard from too many churches, temples and local non-profits who want to help that they simply can’t. That’s why I’m so pleased we’re making these mini-grants available. They should cover the costs for local non-profits to rent a compliant kitchen and then do the good work they’re anxious to do.”
The goals of the pilot are to improve the quality, quantity, and availability of food to members of the Santa Clara County community that may not have the resources to feed themselves.
Requests will be considered based on organizations and/or individual goals to improve the safety, quality, and availability of food to Santa Clara County community members that may not have the resources to provide for meals themselves. To learn more and apply, please visit: https://cepa.sccgov.org/home