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Dallas Closet asks Pocomoke City to renew $10,000 food-distribution grant
Summary
Dallas Closet told the Pocomoke City mayor and council it moved from quarterly food distributions to a monthly pantry-on-the-go model and asked the city to renew the $10,000 grant that helped expand the program.
Dallas Closet, a local nonprofit that provides clothing and food assistance, asked the Pocomoke City mayor and council to renew a $10,000 grant that supported its food-distribution program last year. Representative Joshua North described how the group shifted from quarterly events to monthly pantry-on-the-go distributions after receiving city funding and a Maryland Food Bank partnership.
The request was presented at the April 8 work session. Dallas Closet provided the council with a packet including a request letter, a calendar of events, financials and a draft budget the organization said it would update before the new fiscal year begins in July. The organization said the monthly events serve more than 100 families and about 400 people per distribution and are held at First Baptist Church on Saturday mornings.
Why it matters: Council funding allowed Dallas Closet to expand from roughly four events a year to a monthly schedule, the group said, and the Maryland Food Bank partnership reduced food purchasing costs and made it possible to reintroduce proteins such as beef, pork, chicken and fish to distribution packages.
Supporting details: Dallas Closet said the $10,000 city grant stretched to cover about eight to 10 months of the program under its previous cost structure but that costs vary month to month depending on food bank donations. The speaker said the organization moved to be a Maryland Food Bank network partner and pantry-on-the-go operator after the school that had previously partnered declined to expand to a 12-month schedule; the school agreed to send volunteers but not to take on planning responsibilities.
Council action: No formal vote on the grant renewal was recorded at the meeting. The presentation concluded with an explicit ask for continued city support; council members responded with questions about operations and offered suggestions for future collaboration, including a resource fair and partnerships with the community garden.
Looking ahead: Dallas Closet plans to continue monthly distributions and to update its budget before the July start of the next fiscal year. The council did not record a decision about funding during the work session.
