May 23, 2021 2 min read

The Washington County Community Foundation recently awarded a $20,000 grant to the Greater Washington County Food Bank to improve the ventilation in the kitchen of its Healthy Habits Training Center (HHTC) in West Brownsville.

With the grant, the food bank will begin to transform the HHTC kitchen into a commercial kitchen in preparation of implementing its Short-Term Emergency Program (STEP). Through STEP, the food bank will prepare and deliver hot, nutritious meals to individuals with short-term medical conditions with no or a limited support system at home. It is anticipated that through good nutrition individuals will recover more quickly and more fully, which will reduce the likelihood of needing additional medical treatments or hospital stays.

In the coming months, the food bank will purchase other equipment for the kitchen and will also hire a registered dietitian to direct the program. For STEP, the food bank is working with several insurance providers who will subsidize the program and who will also refer clients to the program. Over time and as funding permits, other food-insecure clients may be added to the STEP.

Connie Burd, executive director of the agency, said, “The Greater Washington County Food Bank is committed to alleviating hunger through good nutrition. The traditional food bank model was simply to distribute food, as much food as could be secured through purchase or donation. But over time we have learned that a greater focus on nutrition is necessary as nationwide many food-insecure clients suffer simultaneous obesity and malnutrition. Simply focusing on caloric intake is creating additional problems, and so at the Greater Washington County Food Bank we have been launching programs, such as STEP, that center on good nutrition for food-insecure clients.”

In addition to its Healthy Habits Training Center, the food bank operates The Farm, which grows fresh produce using both traditional and hydroponic methods, and the Country Thrift Market, which not only provides essential health and cleaning items to low-income families but that also generates excess revenue that helps to run other programs. Through its Truck to Trunk program, the food bank provides monthly food boxes of nutritional foods and fresh, locally sourced produce at several designated locations throughout Washington County.

The grant was awarded from the foundation’s Close to Home Disaster & Emergency Fund, which was created in March 2020 and has cumulatively awarded more than $700,000 to local charities.