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Click on the logo above to visit the website for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schuyler County

 

 

 



 

 

Nutrition Outreach Program's goal: improve Food Stamp Program usage

(Note: The Nutrition Outreach and Education Program administered through Schuyler Outreach/Catholic Charities has provided the following outline of efforts to improve the public's use of the Food Stamp Program.)

The Schuyler Outreach/Catholic Charities is one of 45 community based agencies that have been awarded the Nutrition Outreach and Education Program grant by the Nutrition Consortium of New York State.

Through state and federal funding for the Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP), Schuyler Outreach will conduct outreach in order to generate awareness and increase participation in the Food Stamp Program in Schuyler County.

The Food Stamp Program, the nation’s premiere defense against hunger, is designed to provide nutritional support to families, working adults and senior citizens struggling to make ends meet. However, statewide approximately 44% of eligible households are not receiving the food stamp benefits to which they are entitled. New York State, acknowledging the need to improve access to the Food Stamp Program for eligible New Yorkers, increased state and federal total funding for the NOEP this year by $2 million.

The low level of Food Stamp Program participation by eligible adults and children is due to a lack of awareness about the program and its eligibility requirements. The purpose of the NOEP is to inform the public about the many benefits for individuals and the community of participation in the Food Stamp Program, and to help eligible households to apply for and receive food stamp benefits.

Last year, before NOEP funding was increased, 20 Nutrition Outreach and Education Projects helped 10,130 eligible households get the food stamps they needed to put food on the table. Many of these same projects also helped to connect families with children to the School Breakfast Program and the Summer Food Service Program. The additional funding available this year will help thousands of more households to afford the food they need.

NOEP can conduct outreach for the Food Stamp Program, because of the intimate knowledge of the needs of local people and how to reach potentially eligible groups such as low-income senior citizens and working families with children.

For information about any of these programs, or to find out if you might be eligible for Food Stamp benefits, please contact Nan Mosher, NOEP Coordinator at 607-535-5133.

 

© The Odessa File 2004
Charles Haeffner
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