Funding Opportunities for Food Pantries and Municipalties

Two new grant programs are available through the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) for municipalities and emergency food relief organizations. $1.2 million is available to municipalities for food scraps reduction, food donation and food scraps recycling (composting, anaerobic digestion, etc.) projects. $800,000 is available to emergency food relief organizations to increase the amount of wholesome food available to those in need.

Grant Programs

• Funding for Emergency Food Relief Organizations
• Funding for Municipalities for Food Reduction, Food Donation, and Food Scraps Recycling

Funding for Emergency Food Relief Organizations

NRDC estimates that 40% of food in the United States goes uneaten - that's more than 20 pounds of food per person per month. In addition to the water and nutrients that are used to produce food that is simply thrown away, wasted wholesome food represents a lost opportunity to feed the estimated 14% of New Yorkers that are food insecure.

The goal of this grant is to support food pantries and other emergency food relief organizations by providing funding to increase the availability of wholesome food to those in need. Applications will be accepted September 5, 2018 to February 1, 2019 3:00 PM EST. All applications will be reviewed and funded on a first-come, first-served basis.

Eligible Applicants:

501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporations whose projects include providing wholesome food to those in need, either directly or indirectly. Food Banks are ineligible for this grant program since DEC already has a contract in place to fund activities at the Food Banks.

Eligible Projects:

• Personal Services (e.g., staffing and fringe benefits)
• Supplies and Services (e.g., outreach materials, publications)
• Equipment (e.g., freezers, refrigerators, vehicles, physical space expansion, insulated food transporters)
• Contractual Services
• Travel Costs

Grant Match:

This program provides a 90% reimbursement to non-profits. Total awards can range from $100 to $15,000 per applicant. (Please note, the following links leave the NYSDEC website.)

Applying for the Grant:

Applications will be accepted September 5, 2018 to February 1, 2019 3:00 PM EST and must be submitted through the NYS Grants Gateway. Applications will be reviewed and funded on a first-come, first-served basis.

To view the RFA:

1. In the Grant Opportunity Portal, click Search Now
2. Next to Search by Grant Opportunity enter 2018 Emergency and click Search
3. Click 2018 Emergency Food Assistance Providers - Increase Food Donation
4. Scroll down and click View Grant Opportunity to view full application

To apply to the RFA:

1. Register for Grants Gateway (if you do not have an existing account)
2. Complete the vendor Prequalification process (required for all non-profit organizations)
3. To apply to the grant program you must be logged into Grants Gateway. Follow steps 1-3 to locate the application. Now instead of clicking View Grant opportunity you will click apply now.

You must register for the Grants Gateway in order to apply to the grant program.

It is important to note that not-for-profit applicants that have not registered for the Grants Gateway and are not Prequalified in the Grants Gateway by February 1, 2019 cannot be evaluated and will be disqualified. For more information about the Grants Gateway and Prequalification, please visit Grants Reform or contact the Grants Reform team at grantsreform@its.ny.gov or 518-474-5595.

Grant program questions can be directed to organicsgrants@dec.ny.gov.

Guidance Documents

• Grantee Tutorial: Grants Gateway Registration
• Grantee Tutorial: Document Vault and Not-for-profit Prequalification
• Vendor Prequalification Manual
• Grants Guidance Live Webinars
• Grants Guidance Videos (Prequalification, Applying for a Grant, Requesting a Payment)

Informational Webinar

Did you miss the interactive webinar on Wednesday, September 19, 2018 at 1:00 PM EST or maybe you'd like to watch it again?

Emergency Food Relief Organizations Grant Application Webinar Presentation (PDF, 289 KB)

RECORDED WEBINAR IS NOW AVAILALBE FOR VIEWING! While we encourage you to watch the entire webinar, below is a list of highlighted time stamps.

• 0:00 General Grant Info
• 3:05 Registration for Grants Gateway
• 4:40 Prequalification
• 6:08 Grantee User Roles in Grants Gateway
• 12:25 Next Steps: 9:20Grants Reform Website
• 15:10 Grants Gateway (before logged in)
• 16:15 Grants Gateway Registration
• 17:20 Grants Gateway Search
• 18:40 Solicitation Profile
• 19:45 RFA Q & A Document
• 26:03 View Grant Opportunity
• 21:15 Log into Grants Gateway
• 21:30 Overview of Grants Gateway Portal
• 24:05 Internet Explorer Recommended
• 29:35 Start Application
• 30:08 Application Main Page
• 31:44 Forms Menu
  • 32:02 Contract Document Properties
  • 33:32 Project/Site Addresses
  • 35:39 Program Specific Questions
  • 40:22 Questions from attendees
  • 43:10 Budget
  • 48:00 Narratives
  • 49:30 Expenditure Summary
  • 52:32 Match Worksheet
  • 54:05 Pre-Submission Upload
  • 57:05 Work plan Worksheet
  • 58:40 Workplan
  • 1:08:52Grantee Document Folder
    
• 1:09:25 Submit Application

Municipal Funding for Food Scraps Reduction, Food Donation, and Food Scraps Recycling

The goal of this funding program is to assist municipalities in creating and expanding programs to reduce wasted food, donate wholesome food and recycle food scraps (composting, anaerobic digestion, etc.). Applications will be accepted September 5, 2018 to March 1, 2019 3:00 PM EST. Projects will be funded based on scoring criteria.

Eligible Applicants:

• Counties, Cities, Towns or Villages
• Local Public Authorities
• Local Public Benefit Corporations (organizations established by State Law)
• School Districts, Supervisory Districts & Improvement Districts
• Native American Tribes or Nations residing in New York State
• Any combination of the above

Eligible Projects and Grant Match:

• Outreach and Education Materials - 80% reimbursement
• Equipment and Construction - 50% reimbursement
• Staff - 80% reimbursement

Total awards can range from $1,000 to $250,000 per applicant. Funding for staff is limited to $150,000.

Applying for the Grant:

Applications will be accepted September 5, 2018 to March 1, 2019 3:00 PM EST and must be submitted through the Grants Gateway. Applications will be reviewed and funded based scoring criteria as detailed in the application.

To view the RFA:

1. In the Grant Opportunity Portal, click Search Now
2. Login to NYS Grants Gateway to view application
3. Next to Search by Grant Opportunity enter 2018 Municipal and click Search
4. Click 2018 Municipal Food Scraps Reduction, Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Programs
5. Click View Grant Opportunity to view full application

To apply to the RFA:

1. Register for Grants Gateway (if you do not have an existing account)
2. You must be logged into Grants Gateway to apply to the grant program. Follow steps 1-4 above to locate the application. Now instead of clicking View Grant opportunity you will click apply now.

You must register for the Grants Gateway in order to submit an application. For more information about the Grants Gateway, please visit Grants Reform or contact the Grants Reform team at GrantsReform@its.ny.gov or 518-474-5595.

Grant program questions can be directed to organicsgrants@dec.ny.gov.

Guidance Documents

• Grants Guidance Live Webinars
• Grants Guidance Videos (Applying for a Grant, Requesting a Payment)

Informational Webinar

Did you miss the interactive webinar on Wednesday, September 26, 2018 at 1:00 PM EST or maybe you'd like to watch it again?

Municipal Food Scraps Reduction, Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Grant Application Webinar Presentation (PDF, 270 KB)

RECORDED WEBINAR IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING! While we encourage you to watch the entire webinar, below is a list of highlighted time stamps.

• 0:00 Introduction
• 0:22 Key Dates
• 2:10 Program Overview
• 2:34 Program Information
• 3:10 How to ask questions
• 3:54 Grants Gateway technical support
• 5:05 Registering with the Grants Gateway
• 6:23 Prequalification not required for Municipalities
• 6:50 Grants Gateway User Roles
• 8:50 More about System Roles
• 9:35 Next Steps
• 10:43 The Grants Reform Website
• 11:05 The Registration Form
• 12:00 Access the Grants Gateway
• 12:40 Search the Portal for Grant Opportunities
• 14:40 View the Grant Opportunity Profile
• 16:10 View the Q&A Document
• 17:07 View the RFP
• 20:30 Log in to start your Application
• 21:18 Overview of the Screen
• 23:00 Start your Application
• 23:56 Overview of the Application Main Page
• 24:55 Overview of the Forms Menu
• 26:55 Pre Submission Uploads
• 27:50 Project Site Addresses
• 28:50 What happens when you miss a required field
• 30:35 Program Specific Questions
• 36:50 Save the Program Specific Questions with a missing field
• 37:15 System Times out after 20 minutes of Inactivity
• 38:00 Back to Forms Menu
• 38:20 Locate an Application you have already started
• 39:10 Enter your Budget Line Items
• 46:20 Budget Expenditure Summary and Match Requirements
• 49:50 Fill out the Match Worksheet
• 51:25 Fill out the Work Plan
• 54:25 Work Plan Properties
• 58:15 Adjust order of Work Plan Items
• 59:38 Grantee Document Folder
• 1:00:30 Add task for other user with Management Tools
• 1:01:32 Log in as another user to submit the Applications
• 1:02:20 Print Application to Preview It
• 1:03:06 Try to Submit an Application with an error
• 1:04:00 Successfully submit Application without errors
• 1:04:28 How do you know if your Application was Submitted
• 1:05:45 View your Submitted Application in Application Versions
• 1:09:25 Review of Application Process

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• Contact for this Page
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  Division of Materials Management
  Bureau of Waste Reduction & Recycling
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