Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility Kosierowski helps secure $413K for local anti-poverty non-profit

Kosierowski helps secure $413K for local anti-poverty non-profit

Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus    June 27, 2025 | 1:42 PM

SCRANTON, June 27—State Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, D-Scranton, announced today she helped the nonprofit Friends of the Poor secure $413,013 in state infrastructure grants from the PA Department of Agriculture.

Friends of the Poor, a Scranton nonprofit whose mission is to alleviate the burden of poverty and help to enhance the quality of life in low- to moderate-income communities, will use the funding to create a centralized cold-storage food distribution hub that will streamline nonprofit and farmer access to fresh food for thousands of residents.

“I was honored to be in a position to help Friends of the Poor, a wonderful Scranton-based nonprofit, access critical funding that will enable them to develop the infrastructure that will give thousands of food-insecure members of our community access to fresh, nutritious food for their families and themselves” Kosierowski said. “The funding comes from a new, innovative program, Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure, which is an example of the great good that can be accomplished through federal and state partnerships.”

The funding comes through Pennsylvania’s Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program — a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program provides dollar-for-dollar matching grants to support food processing, distribution, and aggregation from multiple farms to help meet demand for local, seasonal, and fresh food. For qualifying historically underserved, women-owned and veteran-owned small businesses, the required match is reduced to 25%.