More than a thousand Starke County residents are now signed up for the county’s Food Distribution Program. It provides $100 food vouchers that can be used at local grocery stores.
Auditor Rachel Oesterreich says county employees were busy signing residents up by last Friday’s deadline and coordinating the logistics. “These individuals have taken hundreds of phone calls, prepared vouchers and handed out vouchers to the public,” she told the county commissioners Monday. “We are up to over 1,200 that we’re serving right now, so you can imagine how much work goes into this, taking 1,200 phone calls, making 1,200 vouchers, and also handing out all those vouchers.”
During Monday’s commissioners meeting, Oesterreich publicly thanked five county employees in the auditor’s and surveyor’s offices for the hours they’ve spent helping residents get access to food through the voucher program. It’s funded with $150,000 the county got from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs COVID-19 Response Program.
