Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a stimulus grant program for the meatpacking and farm workers severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this month, the USDA made an important announcement regarding the program to ensure these coronavirus stimulus checks to farm workers and food workers reach everyone eligible for them.
According to the USDA, it has selected 15 recipients that will help it in distributing the payment to eligible meatpacking and farm workers.
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Farm and Food Workers Relief Grant Program: USDA Selects 15 Recipients
In September 2021, the USDA announced the Farm and Food Workers Relief Grant Program (FFWR). The program sets aside about $700 million to give $600 to farm and food workers severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
At the time, the USDA encouraged state agencies, tribal entities and nonprofits to apply for the grant under the program. To be selected, these entities had to prove they could reach hard-to-reach populations. After getting the grants, these institutions will have to distribute those funds to eligible farm and meatpacking workers.
Now, the USDA has selected the organizations that will help it distribute these coronavirus stimulus checks to farm workers and food workers. Earlier this month, the USDA announced that it had selected 15 grant recipients to receive funding through the FFWR.
The USDA said that it has selected these organizations on the basis of their track records working with farm, meatpacking workers, and front-line grocery workers, as well as their ability to reach “critical geographic areas.”
“The grant recipients being announced today will help us provide relief payments to workers across the country who kept food moving to our families during an especially challenging time,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a press release.
To view the complete list of selected organizations, visit this link.
Selected organizations are now working on systems to enable eligible workers to apply for the $600 coronavirus stimulus checks to farm workers and food workers. To get the payment, workers need to furnish valid proof of ID and employment.
The USDA expects the beneficiaries to be able to apply for the funds as soon as late November. Selected organizations are expected to send the payments to the eligible workers later in the fall. The payment will primarily go to farm and meatpacking workers who incurred pandemic-related health and safety costs.
The relief payment would allow the workers to “defray costs for reasonable and necessary personal, family, or living expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as costs for personal protective equipment (PPE), dependent care, and expenses associated with quarantines and testing related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the press release said.
Workers are recommended to check the AMS FFWR webpage regularly for any updates on the payment, including the organizations responsible for sending the payment and their coverage areas.
