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A new government food program aimed primarily at low-income senior citizens in Harris County is looking for participants to sign-up before the end of the month. Houston Public Radio’s Jack Williams reports.
The Community Supplemental Food Program begins service in Harris County in August and will focus on elderly residents who meet certain income requirements. The Houston Food Bank will distribute a box of food to 8500 participants once a month through the end of December. This is CEO Brian Greene.
“Each box has about 5 days worth of food and it’s juice, canned fruit, canned vegetables, milk, cereal, cheese, we’ve got the government cheese in there, some sort of starch item, a canned protein item. So it’s a very good balanced box that helps seniors stretch their dollars.”
Houston was added to the program list because of its role as a temporary home to thousands of New Orleans residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Agency Services representative Kendrick Johnson says the program is new to Harris County, but familiar many evacuees.
“There’s a lot of Katrina victims that are here in Harris County that are familiar with the program because they were associated with it in New Orleans. This will be a re-introduction to them and an introduction to native Houstonians.”
The deadline to sign-up for the program is July 30th.
