Matzie: More than $90,000 awarded to improve food storage, reduce waste by food banks serving Beaver County
Additional $250,000 to regional food banks
Rep. Robert F. Matzie January 30, 2026
AMBRIDGE, Jan. 30 – More than $90,000 in new grant funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Proection will help food banks serving Beaver County safely store and transport food while reducing food waste, state Rep. Rob Matzie announced today.
Matzie, who is chairman of the House Majority Caucus, said the grants – which include $50,000 to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and more than $40,200 to Families Matter Food Pantry – will fund a range of equipment and resources to help the food banks overcome one of their greatest operational challenges.
“Preventing food waste is a major challenge for our local food banks and pantries, but we can help them deal with the problem by ensuring that they have the infrastructure needed to safely store and transport perishable supplies,” Matzie said. “The new grants will help do that by funding refrigeration equipment, vehicles and other resources to ensure more food reaches families in need and fewer supplies end up going to waste.”
Matzie said that in addition to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, eight other food banks and pantries in Allegheny County secured more than $250,000 in grant funding.
Food Recovery Infrastructure Grants are awarded to reimburse the cost of equipment like refrigerators, freezers, refrigerated and non-refrigerated vehicles, stoves and microwaves to store, transport or prepare the recovered safe, fresh, wholesome foods to ensure that the food can be redistributed to the public. Grants up to $50,000 were available per applicant. Special consideration was given to applicants with projects that serve Environmental Justice areas.
More about the grant program is available here: https://www.pa.gov/services/dep/grants/apply-for-a-food-recovery-infrastructure-grant