Congressman Mike Michaud and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree are calling on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to restore some of the drastic cuts in funding for soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters in Maine. Four counties in Maine--Cumberland, York, Waldo and Sagadahoc--have lost all of their FEMA funding.
"Maine isn't being treated fairly and FEMA needs to correct this program's flawed distribution of funding," said Michaud. "Rural areas shouldn't be put at a disadvantage and it seems that's what's going on here. I'm hopeful that FEMA can correct this situation and provide additional funding to our state."
"The formula FEMA is using just isn't fair to Maine," Pingree said. "We lost nearly 60% of our funding, while the rest of New England saw much, much smaller cuts. Shelters and food pantries are struggling right now, just as many families in Maine are. This is not the time to pull the rug out from under them."
FEMA provides Emergency Food and Shelter Program funding for soup kitchens, food pantries and homeless shelters. According to Michaud and Pingree, the formula used this year cut funding by nearly half a million dollars in Maine, a reduction of about 60% over last year's funding.
Michaud and Pingree wrote to FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, asking him to reinstate some of the cuts with any unallocated funds in the program, and to review the methodology used in handing out the funding, citing a recent USDA report on hunger in the states.
"Maine has a higher rate of individuals facing real hunger than 44 other states and is the most 'food insecure' in New England....Despite the fact that Maine is fairing poorly compared to our New England neighbors, Maine lost 57% of its...funding this year compared to the average loss by other New England states of only 34%," the two wrote in their letter.
Michaud and Pingree say the formula FEMA used to allocate funds appears to favor larger cities at the expense of rural areas like Maine.
The Emergency Food and Shelter National Board, chaired by FEMA, is responsible for distributing the federal funding.
