Food Bank of the Southern Tier tells Chemung County leaders demand and funding pressures are rising; four routine resolutions approved

Sarah DeFrank, director of policy, programs and partnerships at the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, told county officials that requests for food in Chemung County rose in 2024 and described how federal, state and private grants offset costs for local pantry partners.

"So I'm Sarah DeFrank. I'm from the Food Bank of the Southern Tier," DeFrank said as she opened a roughly 20-minute presentation to the county meeting. She outlined program capacity in Chemung County, grant sources and risks tied to proposed SNAP and Medicaid changes.

DeFrank said the food bank's 2024 service in Chemung included 16 pantries, five meal sites and one shelter; three school food centers; 20 backpack programs; eight mobile food pantries; five senior mobile pantries; and 11 retail partners engaged in grocery rescue. She said the food bank distributed about 1,600,000 pounds of food in the service area and used a conversion of 1.2 pounds per meal to estimate total meals served.

DeFrank presented estimated fiscal values for 2024 and said the food bank counts both food and nonfood support when calculating impact. She described several funding lines that support distribution: TFAP (the USDA Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program), state food grants including a county allocation of $130,000 and a legislative award of $84,000 the prior year, the Nourish New York program for dairy and fresh produce, and internal grants the food bank awards to smaller volunteer-run pantries for equipment, repairs and home delivery services.

DeFrank walked through the food-value math she uses for agency partners: she reported a preliminary agency cost of $1,690,000, total food grants of $480,000 and said the net cost to agencies after grants equates to roughly 14 cents per pound of food (figures presented by the speaker and described in the handout as estimates). She also said the food bank is tracking potential impacts from proposed SNAP and Medicaid changes and reported that SNAP benefit flows to Chemung County average about $2,800,000 per month, citing OTDA SNAP caseload data.

On client-facing procedures, DeFrank said eligibility at partner pantries is based on self-attestation rather than document review: "We believe that if you're showing up in a food line, you probably need some food," she said, adding that agencies keep attestation records in the event of a federal audit. She also described the food bank's service-insight tools for tracking duplicate service across agencies and said the food bank will contact and unregister individuals who exceed set attendance limits at mobile pantries.

DeFrank urged continued county engagement on statewide funding lines and protections for programs such as Nourish New York and the Healthy School Meals for All initiative. She thanked the county for annual funding of $30,000 routed through Catholic Charities and invited county legislators to tour school food centers, mobile pantries and the food bank's operations.

After the presentation the meeting moved to routine business. County officials read four resolutions together and put them to a voice vote. The chair called for the motion and, following a voice vote of "aye," the clerk announced the motion carried. The meeting record did not include names for the motion maker or seconder, and no roll-call vote tally was recorded in the transcript.

Votes at a glance

- Resolution 1: "Resolution authorizing transfers and appropriations by the county executive." Outcome: approved by voice vote; details on mover/second and roll-call counts not specified in the transcript.

- Resolution 2: "Resolution authorizing agreement with EFPR Group, CPAs, PLLC on behalf of [Chemung] County Department of Public Works." Outcome: approved by voice vote; mover/second not specified.

- Resolution 3: "Resolution approving certain applications for the distribution of community development funds by the county executive." Outcome: approved by voice vote; mover/second not specified.

- Resolution 4: "Resolution approving certain applications for distribution of the Chemung County community development fund." Outcome: approved by voice vote; mover/second not specified.

The meeting adjourned after the vote. DeFrank left handouts and offered to follow up with updated Q1 2025 figures and additional detail on the food bank's risk analysis and budgeting process.