The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced on Jan. 13 it has extended the deadline to submit applications for the Farm and Food Worker Relief (FFWR) Grant Program from Feb. 8 to March 10, 2022.
Additionally, AMS has updated the requirements regarding employment verification methods for eligible beneficiaries. AMS has partnered with two organizations, UFW Foundation and Corazón Latino, to provide FFWR applicants with pre-award technical assistance:
- Applicants intending to serve eligible farm workers should contact UFW Foundation: FFWRGrantsTA@ufwfoundation.org.
- Applicants intending to serve eligible meatpackers or grocery store workers should contact Corazon Latino: usdagrants@corazonlatino.us.
Through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, AMS will competitively award approximately $665 million in FFWR funding to state agencies, tribal entities and nonprofit organizations with experience providing support or relief services to farmworkers or meatpacking workers. Of this amount, $20 million is set aside for at least one pilot program to support grocery workers.
Grant awards will generally range from $5 million to $50 million and awarded entities will distribute $600 flat-rate relief payments to frontline farmworkers, meatpacking workers, or grocery store workers who incurred expenses preparing for, preventing exposure to, and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
More information about the program is available at www.ams.usda.gov/ffwr.
