Collin County allocates additional $2M in CARES funding for local food pantries

Collin County commissioners allocated an additional $2 million in federal funding to the Collin CARES program to continue reimbursements for local food pantries.

Collin CARES funding comes from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which sent more than $171 million in federal aid to Collin County earlier this year. The county adopted the Collin CARES recovery plan May 11 with the goal of assisting families and individuals affected by the coronavirus pandemic with costs incurred from March 1 through Dec. 30.

Commissioners voted Nov. 23 to allocate an addition $2 million in reserves from the federal funding to the food and grocery assistance category of the Collin CARES budget.

“That [will] allow us to continue making reimbursement payments that have been submitted by the local food pantries,” County Judge Chris Hill said.

A document prepared for commissioners by county staff shows more than $8.3 million in federal funds have been distributed to local food pantries.

The vote to allocate the extra funds was unanimous, though Commissioner Susan Fletcher was absent from the Nov. 23 meeting.

The Collin CARES recovery plan also assists with funding for COVID-19 testing, personal protective equipment and Collin County cities’ COVID-19 costs and recovery efforts.

During the Nov. 23 meeting, commissioners approved a separate reimbursement of a little more than $2,000 to local nonprofit City House Inc. for COVID-19 tests and personal protective equipment.

Additional details on the Collin CARES program are available at www.collincountytx.gov.