Officials said Wednesday that the masks will be delivered in the coming months, and are expected to reach an estimated 12 to 15 million vulnerable Americans.
Some sectors are thriving, while others continue to struggle, putting different people in vastly different situations. NPR is following four people who will help illustrate the arc of the recovery.
The charitable organizations called food banks are getting a lot of attention and donations right now. But they aren't nearly as important or effective as SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.
Pre-pandemic, the Three Square food bank in Las Vegas distributed roughly 1 million pounds of food per week. Now, that number has increased to 1.3 million pounds of food.
Publix doesn't want food to go to waste during the coronavirus pandemic. So it's buying it from farmers and dairies and then will donate it to food banks which are overwhelmed by demand.
Some Americans, fearing food shortages from COVID-19, have cleaned out supermarket shelves. Yet there's too much food in some places. Farmers are dumping milk and vegetables that they can't sell.
Even with visits to the local pantry, many families struggle to get enough to eat, as writer Tamara Gane knows first-hand. Food banks say rethinking our donations could help them stretch their money.
D.C'.s Capital Area Food Bank is part of a growing trend to move toward healthier options in food assistance, because many in the population it serves suffer from high blood pressure and diabetes.
Health care forms increasingly ask about more than just medical history. That's because doctors are beginning to understand that patients' stress, and how and where they live, influence health, too.
Normally, food banks distribute donated food to the hungry. But Rochester, NY, food bank Foodlink, is going beyond that to provide fresh foods to poor communities and jobs to boost the local economy.
Pantries in southwest Virginia — where poverty is rampant and coal jobs are vanishing — will take whatever they can get to stock bare shelves. Some also offer help with health care and job training.
Food banks are increasingly saying no to cakes, holiday candy and other junk food donations. But some schools are sending them healthier donations by salvaging uneaten foods in their cafeterias.
Simply shuffling the shelves may be a powerful way to help those living in poverty choose healthier options, a nationwide study of food banks suggests.
Fresh fruits and vegetables can be hard to come by for low-income people who rely on food pantries. So some aid programs are now handing out seeds and plants and teaching clients to grow their own.
About 340,000 people or 16 percent of the population in Southern Nevada are considered food insecure.
Often, these people come from middle class backgrounds
