ICYMI: "Help is Here" Tour Shows How American Rescue Plan Helps Put Food on the Table

Today, the "Help is Here" tour focused showing how the American Rescue Plan helps put food on the table, reducing hunger, strengthening the food supply chain, and supporting disadvantaged farmers. The Vice President traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, where she heard directly from leaders at a food distribution site about their efforts to keep their community fed and healthy. The Second Gentleman was joined by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in Des Moines, Iowa where they toured a food bank, thanked volunteers, and held a listening session with food bank leaders and community partners.

Read more about the "Help Is Here" tour below:

USDA SNAP Extension Announcement

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: USDA extends pandemic SNAP, child hunger benefits, while federal officials assess food aid programs' future

"The SNAP increase, codified by lawmakers in the December 2020 COVID-19 relief bill, amounts to about $28 per individual in Pennsylvania each month, meaning a family of four in the state receives more than $100 per month in extra aid to buy groceries, according to the department. 'While Congress passed really important relief last year, particularly around food assistance and unemployment assistance, clearly much more was needed to address the issue of helping millions of Americans struggling to feed themselves and their families,' said Stacy Dean, USDA's deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services, in a call with reporters Monday. With the extended aid, Ms. Dean said, 'struggling households will have more certainty about the food that will be available to them.'"

Radio Iowa: U.S.D.A. announces SNAP benefits to go up through September

"U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says through the end of September, there will be a 15% increase in federal food assistance. 'It will provide additional help and assistance for struggling families,' Vilsack says. 'To give you a sense of this, a family of four is going to receive under this extension and expansion about $102 each and every month for the next several months. Now that's going to make a huge difference.' The total increase in food stamp payments will be $3.5 billion. That boost in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP benefits is financed from the recently approved pandemic relief package. 'This is really significant," Vilsack says. "About for every dollar that's invested in SNAP, you get a $1.50 return in the economy.'"

CBS Youngstown: SNAP benefits increasing for households dealing with food insecurity, USDA says

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a 15% increase Monday to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits through September. 'We cannot sit by and watch food insecurity grow in the United States,' said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. 'The American Rescue Plan brings help to those hurting the most due to the pandemic. It increases SNAP benefits so households can afford to put food on the table. It invests in working people and small towns and small businesses to get the economy back on track. And it makes the most meaningful investments in generations to reduce poverty.'"

CBS Topeka: USDA increases SNAP benefits by 15 percent

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday a 15 percent increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits through September 2021. The increase, funded by the American Rescue Plan, will provide an estimated $3.5 to households experiencing food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 15 percent increase will provide about $28 more per person, per month, which would equal over $100 more per month for a family of four, according to the USDA."

ABC Chattanooga: USDA increases SNAP benefits up to $100 per household through September 2021

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has increased SNAP benefits by 15 percent through September 2021. This increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits will provide about $28 more per person each month, or more than $100 more per month for a family of four."

Vice President Harris in Jacksonville, Florida

Spectrum News: Harris Visits Florida Food Bank, Vaccination Center on Relief Bill Tour

"Harris then traveled to a food pantry, Feeding Northeast Florida, where she listened to local leaders discuss their ongoing efforts to provide healthy food to locals amid the pandemic. Nikki Fried, the commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services and moderator of Monday's roundtable, told the vice president that Black and Hispanic families in the region are disproportionately impacted by chronic hunger. 'The work that we do in Washington will mean nothing without the work you do here on the ground," Harris said, adding: 'Which is to make sure that all of those resources get to the folks who need them, as immediately, as quickly as possible and with the spirit of recognizing the dignity that each of us have.'"

News4Jacksonville: Vice President Harris stops by vaccination site during Jacksonville visit

"Vice President Kamala Harris visited Jacksonville on Monday as part of the Biden administration's "Help is Here" tour of the nation promoting the $1.9 trillion relief package. She visited the federally-run Gateway Mall vaccination site before stopping by a Northwest Jacksonville food distribution warehouse. 'I'm glad to be in Jacksonville,' Harris said. 'We're here talking with the mayor and the commissioner and congressman about the good work that is happening here on the ground, and they have expressed their appreciation for what we have been able to do with the ARP, the American Rescue Plan, getting more shots in arms, helping out folks. A lot of our conversation today is also going to be about food insecurity.'"

WPTV: Vice President Kamala Harris visits Jacksonville on 'Help is Here' tour

"Harris took part in a nearly hour-long listening session where she heard from officials about the food insecurities and other difficulties that residents are facing. Dubbed the 'Help is Here' tour, both Harris and President Joe Biden are spending the next few weeks visiting multiple cities in the U.S. to promote the passage of the $1.9 trillion relief package."

WCJB: Vice President Harris stops by vaccination Site, food pantry during Jacksonville visit

"Vice President Kamala Harris was is in the Sunshine State on Monday afternoon as part of the 'Help is Here' tour … Local Representative, Al Lawson of Florida's 5th congressional district joined the vice president for her tour. 'She and President Biden understand the burden COVID-19 has placed on so many families in our community, especially when it comes to food insecurity,' said Lawson in a statement. Harris hosted a round table with leaders at Feeding Northeast Florida's food pantry and warehouse after her visit to the vaccination site."

The Second Gentleman and Secretary Vilsack in Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines Register: PHOTOS: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Doug Emhoff, and Rep. Cindy Axne tour Food Bank of Iowa

The Courier: In Iowa, second gentleman touts pandemic relief, announces SNAP boost

"Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, heard about food insecurity issues a central Iowa food bank CEO and charity leaders during an event Monday in Des Moines. The event, held at Food Bank of Iowa, was hosted by the White House to highlight the recently-passed, $1.9 trillion federal COVID-19 pandemic relief package. Roughly $4.5 billion will come to Iowa, according to the state's nonpartisan fiscal analysis agency. Emhoff was joined at Monday's event by U.S. agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack, the former two-term Democratic Iowa governor, and U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne, D-Iowa. During the event, Emhoff announced a 15% increase in benefits in the federal food assistance program known as SNAP through September. The federal ag department said the increase will provide an estimated $3.5 billion to households experiencing food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic … Vilsack called the food assistance benefits increase 'a significant step forward,' and Emhoff called it 'a massive victory for Americans all over the country.'"

WOWT: Vice president's husband discusses hunger at Iowa Food Bank

"The funding is in the recently passed bill and Vilsack says it will provide about $28 more per person, per month, or more than $100 more per month for a household of four, in additional SNAP benefits."

We Are Iowa: Second Gentleman, US Secretary of Agriculture visit Des Moines

"Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack were in Des Moines Monday for a tour of the Food Bank of Iowa. 'It's an issue that has affected all Americans despite their party and that's what I really heard today,' Emhoff said of fighting hunter. 'And that's what this American Rescue Plan is for. It's for all Americans.' The aid was initially set to run out in June. 'It's also an economic driver to the extent that people can buy more food at grocery stores. They do,' Vilsack said. 'And when they do, that helps farmers, it helps truckers, it helps processors, it helps the people at the grocery store maintain their employment and their jobs.''"