(a) There shall be one designated site in each county that may receive commodities from Contractor. Each organization must meet the following conditions to be eligible for USDA commodities: - (i) Non profit status as verified by a copy of the application determination letter received as a result of submitting IRS form 1023 or 1024 for IRS non profit status determination. There must also be a copy of a certificate of non profit incorporation from the Wyoming Secretary of State's office. These items shall be submitted to the Contractor's food distribution coordinator;
- (ii) There shall be no charge or requested contribution to a recipient of the commodities;
- (iii) The organization must provide certificate(s) of inspection from a local health department or the Wyoming Department of Health or the Wyoming Department of Agriculture for the food bank, soup kitchen or food pantry(s);
- (A) Commodities may be issued to a site on a provisional one time basis without a sanitation inspection. However, if the site is out of compliance with the appropriate inspection, no further commodities will be allocated until compliance is complete. A sanitation inspector shall determine if the existing commodities may be transferred to another facility if a site does not pass the sanitation inspection.
- (B) Any USDA commodity up to one hundred (100) pounds found to be damaged or out of condition will be destroyed in such a manner that it cannot be used for human consumption. The destruction must be reported on a damage and loss form. If the amount of out-of-condition USDA commodities is over one hundred (100) pounds, a health official or other person authorized by Contractor must witness and confirm the product disposal. If a health officer is not available then the out of condition product must be held under refrigeration to await instructions for disposal.
- (C) All out of condition products must be disposed of in accordance with USDA/FNS procedures.
- (iv) All USDA commodities must be stored in a manner that allows for inventory to be completed.
- (A) Contractor will have the right of access at any reasonable time to complete an inventory if deemed necessary. There shall be an annual inventory of the main storage facility. The USDA commodities will be stored on a first in, first out basis.
- (v) The organization must give priority to serving the homeless and the elderly. There shall be no eligibility criteria which prevent the homeless or elderly from receiving service.
- (vi) The organization must agree to keep records pertaining to eligibility of recipients and the distribution of the commodities.
- (vii) The organization must agree to reviews or audits of records that pertain to USDA commodities. The reviews or audits shall be done by Contractor, DFS, or USDA.
- (viii) The organization must serve the entire county either directly or by supervising another food pantry or pantries. There shall be a current written distribution plan on file with Contractor.
(b) A food bank may apply on behalf of two or more counties.
(c) The following weighted selection criteria shall be used when there are competing applications for the soup kitchen/food bank commodities: - (i) The organization must have continuity of service in the community as measured by the date of incorporation in Wyoming - 10 points.
- (ii) The organization must have letters of support from representatives of the community, elected officials and human services agencies - 20 points.
- (iii) The location must be easily accessible to the local DFS field office and major highways - 20 points.
- (iv) Storage must be in accordance with USDA recommendations - 30 points.
- (v) The organization must have accessible hours, either regular or an emergency system - 10 points.
- (vi) The organization must have procedures for serving the homeless and the needy - 10 points.
(d) Sites which fail to adhere to the following limitation on unrelated activities may be terminated from the program. - (i) Activities unrelated to the distribution of TEFAP foods may be conducted at distribution sites as long as:
- (A) The person(s) conducting the activity makes clear that the activity is not part of TEFAP and is not endorsed by DFS (impermissible activities include information not related to TEFAP placed in or printed on bags, boxes, or other containers in which commodities are distributed). Recipes or information about commodities, dates of future distributions, hours of operations, or other Federal, State or local government programs or services for the needy may be distributed without a clarification that the information is not endorsed by DFS;
- (B) The person(s) conducting the activity makes clear that cooperation is not a condition of the receipt of TEFAP commodities [cooperation includes contributing money, signing petitions, or conversing with the person(s)]; and
- (C) The activity is not conducted in a manner that disrupts the distribution of TEFAP commodities.
- (ii) Emergency feeding organizations and distribution sites shall ensure that activities unrelated to the distribution of TEFAP foods are conducted in a manner consistent with paragraph (i) of this section.
- (iii) Termination for violation. Except as provided in paragraph (iv) of this section, Contractor shall immediately terminate from further participation in TEFAP operations any emergency feeding organization or distribution site that distributes or permits distribution of materials in a manner inconsistent with the provisions of paragraph (i) of this section.
- (iv) Termination exception. Contractor may withhold termination of distribution site's TEFAP participation if Contractor cannot find another emergency feeding organization or distribution site to operate the distribution in the area served by the violating organization. In such circumstances, Contractor shall monitor the distribution of commodities by the violating organization to ensure that no further violations occur.