Lexington, KY, June 22, 2022 — Community Farm Alliance (CFA) announced that a $10,000 grant from WellCare of Kentucky will fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Fruit and Vegetable portion of Kentucky Double Dollars through the end of December. ” This year has been a year with so much upheaval around food insecurity, from tornados to flooding in eastern Kentucky, and funding changes. Securing these funds from WellCare to wrap up the programming year was a win for Kentucky farmers, families, and communities,” said Martin Richards, CFA Executive Director.
According to Feeding America, Kentucky ranks amongst the worst in America in several categories in food insecurity. In Kentucky, 575,300 people face hunger - and out of them 162,100 are children. In the SNAP program 40.6% of households receiving SNAP benefits have children.
Kentucky Double Dollars allows SNAP clients to double their purchases at participating farmers markets and retail stores. A client can spend up to $12 on fruits and vegetables and receive a match. If they spend more than $12, they receive $8 toward meat, eggs, and dairy at participating markets. Any household receiving SNAP benefits is eligible for up to $20 per day in KDD funds.
The program was created in 2014 through a collaboration between CFA, WellCare and Community Farmers Market. Across Kentucky, there are now over eighty locations participating in the program, including farmers markets, retail stores, and community markets. In 2021 alone, more than 12,000 people redeemed over $300,000 in Double Dollars.
“Kentucky Double Dollars is an incredible program that we have supported since the beginning. It was important to us that the program keeps running and getting healthy, Kentucky-grown produce on the tables of Kentucky families,” said Corey Ewing, Plan President of WellCare.
“The phenomenal growth of the program is a real reflection of the food needs in this state, as well as the commitment of companies like WellCare to bettering their communities through programs like Kentucky Double Dollars,” said Richards.
WellCare of Kentucky provides government-sponsored managed care services to families, children, seniors, and individuals with complex needs primarily through Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans across the state. WellCare is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation, a leading healthcare enterprise committed to helping people live healthier lives.