For many Allen County families, a familiar source of food assistance is entering a new chapter. While the volunteers handing out USDA commodities at Wesley United Methodist Church in Iola will remain the same, the system that delivers those foods to local shelves is changing. The transition will temporarily pause distributions before they resume this fall.
The Kansas Food Bank has been selected by the Kansas Department for Children and Families to administer The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), assuming responsibility from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for receiving, storing, allocating and distributing food to local agencies.
For recipients, however, the experience is expected to remain largely unchanged.
“This change is designed to strengthen and streamline the distribution system while maintaining access to USDA foods for eligible households through local distribution partners,” said Debi Kreutzman, community relations manager for the Kansas Food Bank.
THE TRANSITION comes as food banks continue to navigate significant funding reductions. In March 2025, the USDA canceled $500 million — roughly half the funding — for TEFAP, a federal nutrition program that purchases U.S. commodities for emergency food providers serving families facing food insecurity.
As a result, food banks across the country have lost a substantial portion of their normal inventory, forcing regional organizations to absorb the loss of hundreds of thousands of pounds of food that would otherwise have reached local communities.
Kreutzman said the Kansas Food Bank’s expanded role includes overseeing the movement of USDA foods from warehouses to local distribution sites throughout much of its 85-county service area, including Allen County.
Although the logistics behind the program are changing, Kreutzman said those receiving assistance should notice little difference once distributions resume.
“For individuals receiving TEFAP foods, the process at the local level should remain largely the same, with distributions continuing through community partner agencies,” she said.
The transition will bring one immediate change for local recipients.
MARIE Barclay, administrative assistant at Wesley United Methodist Church, said the Kansas Food Bank is temporarily suspending shipments while the new distribution system is implemented.
“To facilitate this change, the Kansas Food Bank will not be sending any further commodity distributions until September,” Barclay said.
Once shipments resume, Wesley United Methodist Church will continue serving as Allen County’s distribution site. Barclay said the church has been assigned deliveries during the odd-numbered months of the year, meaning commodities will be available in September and November for the remainder of 2026.
Distribution dates have not yet been announced. Barclay said the church will share additional information as soon as the Kansas Food Bank finalizes the delivery schedule for the rest of the year.
