BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to appropriate funds to the department of health and human services, division on aging, for the food runners collaborative, inc.
Whereas, Food Runners Collaborative, Inc., is a partnership with Meals on Wheels and the Inter‑Faith Food Shuttle to feed the hungry and help make homeless people learn skills for employment; and
Whereas, the Food Runners Collaborative and its partner agencies serve clients in an eight‑county area and are planning expansion to a larger geographic area; and
Whereas, Meals on Wheels delivers 362,500 meals each year, distributing meals each weekday to 1,000 homebound, elderly, and disabled people; and
Whereas, Meals on Wheels provides 300 lunches each weekday to senior citizens at congregate nutrition sites and delivers a weekly supply of frozen meals to 150 people; and
Whereas, the Inter‑Faith Food Shuttle delivers over four million pounds of food to 202 agencies in seven counties and feeds more than 4,000 people daily; and
Whereas, during 2005, the Food Runners Collaborative will provide 900 meals each weekday to seniors in other counties in the area; and
Whereas, this collaborative partnership is a concept that could be expanded to other parts of the State; and
Whereas, the State of North Carolina has supported this collaborative through a long‑term lease for the land on which the new Food Runners Collaborative facility has been built; and
Whereas, the Food Runners Collaborative is in the development and transition phase of its operation in the new facility and needs operating funds for this transition to provide services to persons in need; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division on Aging, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for the 2005‑2006 fiscal year to support the production of meals in the Food Runners Collaborative facility during its transition period prior to reaching full operational capacity and expanding its services.
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2005.