The Soldotna City Council met Wednesday night to approve a consent agenda item that would approve a grant to the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank to extend the weekly food box program. On June 10, 2020, the City Council adopted Ordinance 2020-014 that would appropriate over $7 million in grant funds made available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, to cover necessary expenditures incurred due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Since then, the City Council has adopted an overall spending plan for CARES Act funds, assigning them into different expense categories which include, city payroll and non-payroll expenditures, grants to businesses and non-profits, and grants intended to provide direct-support to Soldotna residents who have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency. The City determined that the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank should receive a grant of $129,000 from the CARES Act Special Revenue Fund to continue providing and distributing weekly food bags to area residents in need at least through the end of April 2021.
According to City Mayor Paul Whitney, the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank has seen a marked increase in demand for its services since the onset of the public health emergency. A grant was initially administered in October 2020, which was amended to expand the program to meet the increased demand and cover additional expenses. In total, the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank received $322,621.05 in CARES Act funds from the City of Soldotna, and 700 bags were provided weekly to area residents from October 2020 through January 2021.
The administration of the additional grant follows requests by Greg Meyer from the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank, requesting that the program continue through the Spring at a volume of 400 bags per week through the end of April.