Food reclamation and food pantry hunger relief are two of the main issues Healthier Lyon County is planning to address with recent state funding.
Last month, Healthier Lyon County was named as one of the 23 recipients of funding through the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas Pathways to a Healthy Kansas grant program. This is the second phase of funding through the program with Lyon County set to receive $400,000 in total funds this year.
Healthier Lyon County Grant Manager Daphne Mertens says both food reclamation and food pantry relief have continuously been pressing concerns for the local community. She says these issues have become increasingly more prevalent throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mertens says one of the major benefits of the grant program is it allows each county a lot of freedom on where and how to allocate grant funds.
As mentioned previously, this is the second round of funding being allocated through the program with 12 of the 23 selected counties, including Lyon, being returners. Mertens says the original round of funding has already had a major impact on the local community.
This includes the implementation of several new programs in just the past three years. This includes the establishment of the Lyon County Food and Farm Council, three new farmer’s markets in Olpe, Allen and Americus and two rural grocery stores in Allen and Olpe.
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