EASTON, Pa. — Northampton County will provide $100,000 in grants to schools and community organizations providing food and housing aid, officials announced Thursday.
Northampton County awarded $10,000 to food banks in three local school districts — Bangor Area, Pen Argyl Area and Wilson Area — chosen for their high rates of childhood poverty, county Executive Lamont McClure told a County Council committee Thursday night.
“We have that money that we have to spend by 2026, and we can spend it on food insecurity, and that's what we're spending it on here."Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure
Three $5,000 grants will benefit area homeless shelters: the Bethlehem Emergency Shelter, Safe Harbor in Easton’s College Hill neighborhood and Greater Shiloh Church’s winter shelter on the city’s south side.
The largest checks will go to community food banks. Nazareth Food Bank will get a $10,000 grant; the Slate Belt Food Hub will get $20,000 and Northampton Borough Food Center $25,000.
According to a release from the county, the grants tap CARES Act federal pandemic aid money distributed through the Community Development Block Grant program.
'Farmers and hungry children'
The latest round of grants will use up all of the county’s remaining funding allocated that way.
“We have that money that we have to spend by 2026, and we can spend it on food insecurity, and that's what we're spending it on here,” said McClure.
“One of the most pernicious cuts that the federal government has made thus far affects both Northampton County farmers and hungry children. What we can do is handle our own business in our own little corner of the world with the limited resources that we have.”Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure
In a comment to the county council’s Economic Development committee, McClure said the grants come in response to Trump administration cuts affecting U.S. Department of Agriculture food aid.
McClure singled out two recently cancelled initiatives: the Local Food Purchase Assistance and Food for Schools cooperative agreement programs, which pay farmers to supply nearby schools and food banks with fresh produce.
The latest round of grants helps to make up for some of the lost funding, McClure said.
“One of the most pernicious cuts that the federal government has made thus far affects both Northampton County farmers and hungry children,” he said.
“What we can do is handle our own business in our own little corner of the world with the limited resources that we have.”
