Laramie Interfaith will be unable to offer its monthly distribution of government commodity
food (TEFAP) this July. Due to supply chain issues, food cost increases, and other challenges the
Federal Government is unable to secure the delivery of food for July through The Emergency
Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Food Bank of Wyoming is the delivery agency for TEFAP,
across the state making up 23 percent of all food the organization distributes.

The amount of TEFAP food available always varies each year based on food production and
costs. The current decrease of availability for 2022 comes after COVID-relief and other program
funds had previously increased the supply nationwide. Compared to 2021, Wyoming is
experiencing a 52 percent decline in TEFAP availability, including no availability for July. The
TEFAP program hopes to have TEFAP food to offer in August but is not yet guaranteed to.

“TEFAP represents a huge subsidy to our clients and families, but also to our work,” said Josh
Watanabe, Laramie Interfaith executive director. “Without this addition to our work, our pantry
is strained by the increased demand from our most at-risk households who rely on TEFAP. This
forces us to spend more money each month to ensure our pantry can consistently provide for the
community.”

For the first six months of 2022, Laramie Interfaith has had to spend more than double its normal
amount to continue to keep the pantry operating, due to the rising cost of food. However,
Watanabe says that the Food Bank of Wyoming is essential in helping Interfaith keep its pantry
shelves stocked, even if TEFAP food is unavailable.

“The TEFAP program is free for agencies like Interfaith, but Food Bank of Wyoming can only
do what the government allows,” said Watanabe. “But this does not mean Food Bank does not
have donated and purchased food for us to order and buy. We buy large quantities in bulk at a
great discount over wholesale consistently and will continue to do so to provide for the
community.”

This means that Laramie Interfaith can purchase food in far larger quantities for a much smaller
price through the Food Bank of Wyoming than it can at a regular grocery store. This is one way
Laramie Interfaith can leverage monetary donations of our supporters to make their donation
work as hard as possible for the community.

“We are hoping people will dig a little deeper on WyoGives when our donors can have their
donations matched more than once, doubling or tripling or more their donation to us,” said
Watanabe. “Our pantry is made 100% possible by our neighbors and this community. We utilize
state and federal programs for housing, but TEFAP is the only external source to our pantry.”

TEFAP is a federal assistance program that provides 100 percent American-grown food products
to low-income Americans. The program is run through the USDA Food Program and funded
through the federal budget. The amount of food and assistance provided to states is based on the
number of unemployed persons in the state and the number of people estimated to be below the
poverty level of that state.