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To our Faith Partners and Community Leaders,

As spring unfolds with renewed life and promise, the USDA Center for Faith celebrates the sacred calling of faith communities to serve those in need. Our shared mission is clear: to bring real resources and meaningful support directly into the hands of communities facing hardship—and into the trusted hands of faith partners who multiply that impact through compassion, innovation, and deep-rooted relationships.

Faith organizations have always been on the front lines—feeding the hungry, strengthening families, supporting farmers, and restoring hope. At USDA, we are committed to equipping you with the tools, funding, technical assistance, and partnerships needed to amplify your vital work.

Across the country, houses of worship, faith-based nonprofits, and neighborhood ministries are turning grants into gardens, loans into livelihoods, and technical assistance into tangible hope.

Your congregations and organizations are uniquely positioned to reach people USDA programs aim to serve. We invite you at the USDA Center for Faith to partner with us, and join us in this incredible work.

Together, we are not just distributing resources—we are sowing seeds of dignity, resilience, and flourishing for every family and community.

Thank you for your faithful service and partnership. May this season of growth remind us all of the harvest that comes when we work together with open hands and open hearts.



In partnership and gratitude,

In partnership,

Steve Messeh, Director

USDA Center for Faith

To get the latest news, please sign up for the USDA Faith Center newsletter

Dr. Alveda King, Senior Advisor for Faith and Community Outreach, leads prayer at Rededicate 250 on the National Mall in Washington D.C. - Sunday, May 17, 2026.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, today we come before You one American family, grateful for Your grace and mindful of our need for Your mercy.

I stand here as part of the King Family Legacy, the family of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the prophet You called to lead what history records as the 20th century Civil Rights Movement.

Lord, we remember today that every God-led movement is birthed in prayer and obedience. And the Civil Rights Movement was never merely a political movement. It was a faith movement — born in the prayer closets of Christian churches; many of them in America's Negro communities.

"The Movement" was shaped in the pulpits, carried forward on the wings of the Gospel and sustained by the power of prayer.

Faith was the heartbeat of that struggle. When doors of schools, buses, and voting booths were closed, the doors of the church swung wide open. There Your people prayed. There we preached. There we sang the songs of Zion and found courage to stand.

And Lord, as my Uncle reminded us “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” But it does not bend on its own—it bends only by Your mighty hand.

Father, we remember that every major campaign — Montgomery, Birmingham, Selma — began and ended on bended knee. Prayer was our most powerful weapon. Facing dogs, fire hoses, and hatred, Your people prayed not for vengeance but for victory through love. We prayed for our enemies as Jesus taught, because we all bleed the same. And You answered.

Walls of segregation came tumbling down by the power of persistent prayer.

Lord, let that same spirit rise again in America today.

May the Gospel once again ring from our pulpits. Remind us that every human being bears Your image — Black, White, rich, poor, born and unborn. Call this nation once more to live up to her founding creed.

So on this day of rededication, as one blood and one human race, we ask You to return us to the faith of our fathers and mothers. Teach us to pray again, to sing again, and to walk again in faith, hope, and love. And may the Gospel call this nation to be what You have always intended it to be—a land where justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

We ask all these things in the mighty name of Jesus.

Amen.

Blessings,

Dr. Alveda King, Senior Advisor on Faith and Community Outreach

USDA Center for Faith

To get the latest news, please sign up for the USDA Faith Center newsletter

USDA Implements President Trump's Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act

USDA announced has issued a final rule implementing the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, restoring whole and reduced-fat (2%) milk options in federal Child Nutrition Programs for children and adults ages 2 and older.

USDA is also continuing the multi-year process to update school meal standards based on the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendations. In the meantime, USDA is taking immediate action to increase access to real, nutrient-rich foods in schools and child nutrition settings, including local beef and other locally grown foods.

For more information on USDA Child Nutrition Programs, visit USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

Forest Service Announces Additional 2026 Fee-Free Day on June 6

The U.S. Forest Service today announced an additional 2026 recreation fee-free day on June 6 in celebration of National Trails Day, providing no cost use of all standard amenity recreation sites on national forests and grasslands.

Find a local National Trails Day event and join the nationwide movement. Consider hosting an event in cooperation with local Forest Service staff if one doesn’t currently exist near you. The Forest Service is also encouraging all visitors to Take the #NationalTrailsDay Pledge and commit to leaving the trails better than you found them.

For all 2026 fee free days on National Forest System lands, please visit www.fs.usda.gov/visit/passes-permits.

USDA Requires SNAP Authorized Retailers to Carry More Real Food

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published the final rule regarding stocking standards for retailers participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), ensuring a broader variety of nutritious food is available to SNAP participants at authorized retailers across the country.

Retailers authorized to accept SNAP benefits must now carry seven varieties of items across four categories of staple foods: protein, grains, dairy, and fruits and vegetables. This change more than doubles the requirement of available foods, emphasizes more whole foods, increases the perishable food requirements, and eliminates loopholes that for too long have allowed retailers to count certain snack foods toward their staple food requirements.

Save the Date! Celebrating America's 250th Anniversary and Independence Webinar

Thursday, June 11, 2:00-3:00pm ET

Please join us for an upcoming webinar hosted by the USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement highlighting key updates and initiatives including planned events and celebrations taking place for America 250.

Save the Date! Juneteenth Celebration: Celebration of Freedom, Unity, & Gratitude

Saturday, June 20, 6:00-7:15pm ET

Celebrate Juneteenth in an unforgettable evening at the Trump Kennedy Center, where music, unity, and gratitude take center stage. Presented by our Faith and Family Programming, this free event features powerful performances from Grammy-nominated artists Wintley Phipps and Vernesa Mitchell, bringing soul-stirring energy to the celebration. Special guest appearances by Dr. Ben Carson and Dr. Alveda King add inspiring voices to the program. Join us for an evening that honors freedom and community—reserve your free tickets and be part of something truly meaningful.

American Heroes Student Art Contest

On behalf of Freedom 250 and the National Endowment for the Humanities, we invite youth to participate in the American Heroes Student Art Contest. This national initiative celebrates our nation’s Semiquincentennial by inviting students in grades 3-12 to create and submit original two-dimensional artworks and 200-word artist statements inspired by one of the 250 historic Americans to be honored in the upcoming National Garden of American Heroes.

Final awardees will win a trip to Washington, D.C. in July to see their art and essays exhibited at the Great American State Fair and to be recognized in an awards ceremony.

The competition is meant to foster a sense of patriotism, reflection, and celebration in students by considering and re-creating America’s historical figures, in an American art historical style, and expressing why these heroes matter to us today.

Full contest details, submission guidelines, and teacher resources for the art classroom are available at the Freedom250.org website. Deadline: Monday, June 1, 2026, 11:59pm EST

4-H: Beyond Ready

4-H is America’s largest youth development organization—empowering nearly six million young people with the skills to go beyond the expected.

USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Division of Youth and 4-H is home to the 4-H National Headquarters. 4-H programs in science, healthy living and civic engagement are backed by a network of 100 public universities and a robust community of 4‑H volunteers and professionals. Through hands-on learning, youth build not only confidence, creativity and curiosity, but also life skills such as leadership and resiliency to help them thrive today and tomorrow.

Find more resources to be Beyond Ready.

FFA Grant and Scholarship Opportunities

Through a variety of grants and scholarships, the National Future Farmers of America Organization provides financial assistance to individual members, FFA chapters and advisors. These funds are intended to remove financial barriers to participation in FFA activities. Learn more about these funding opportunities here. 

Greetings Partners,

There are many grant programs current open at USDA. Please note the short application periods, and visit program websites for additional information such as news of upcoming grant webinars and supplemental resources. The USDA is also excited to collaborate with HHS on an exciting new initiative focused on increasing access to proteins. Additional information is below!


HHS and USDA Announce Investments to Expand Protein Access and Cold Chain Infrastructure

HHS announced a $7.5 million investment to expand Americans’ access to high-quality protein, strengthen nutrition security, and reduce food waste nationwide. Through a new agreement with HATCH for Hunger, HHS will support a national initiative to redirect surplus protein to families in need, improve health outcomes, and help reduce the burden of chronic disease.

USDA also announced its intent to fund a competitive grant program to strengthen cold chain infrastructure for emergency food assistance operations, including faith-based partners who serve communities in need. USDA will provide up to $7.5 million to help eligible nonprofit organizations safely distribute nutrient-dense proteins such as meat, eggs, seafood, and dairy to Americans in need.

Additional information from USDA will be forthcoming.

Thank you for your partnership,



Alex Cordova

Deputy Director, USDA Center for Faith

USDA Center for Faith

To get the latest news, please sign up for the USDA Faith Center newsletter

The USDA Center for Faith collects and shares information about available grants from USDA and federal partners. These are selected based on relevance to our faith partners, but are not all inclusive of our offerings. Please visit grants.gov for a comprehensive listing.

USDA Food for Peace Notice of Funding Opportunity

The Food for Peace program benefits American farmers and producers through purchases of bulk and formulated U.S. agricultural commodities furnished to provide emergency food assistance to address famine, food crises, and acute food insecurity. Food for Peace moves U.S. commodities to countries in need to provide life-saving emergency food assistance while ensuring that the strategic priorities of the United States are met.

The Food for Peace NOFO on Grants.gov describes this funding. Please see the NOFO for full details and information on how to apply. Eligible Food for Peace applicants include public or private organizations, including intergovernmental organizations and other multilateral organizations. USDA will accept applications from the Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya and Rwanda. 


The application deadline for the Food for Peace NOFO is 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on June 12, 2026.

McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program

The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program helps support education, child development and food security in low-income, food-deficit countries around the globe. The program purchases nutritious packaged U.S. agricultural commodities from American farmers, ranchers, and producers, to support school feeding and maternal and child nutrition projects. Deadline: June 22, 2026

The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program

The GusNIP-NI funds and evaluates projects to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables among USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and U.S. Virgin Islands; and the USDA Nutrition Assistance Program Block Grants for Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands by providing a financial incentive at the point of purchase. Deadline: June 16, 2026

Beginning Farmer and Rancher development Program

The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program helps beginning farmers and ranchers in the United States and its territories enter and/or improve their successes in farming, ranching, and management of nonindustrial private forest lands, through support for projects that provide education, outreach, and technical assistance to give beginning farmers and ranchers the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to make informed decisions for their operations and enhance their sustainability. Deadline: June 16, 2026

Local Agriculture Market Program

USDA announced $32.4 million in grant funding available through the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) to help local and regional food entities develop, coordinate, and expand producer-to-consumer marketing, local and regional food markets, and local food enterprises. LAMP includes the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP), Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP), and the Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP). USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is accepting applications for the grant programs until June 5, 2026. 

Through FMPP and LFPP, USDA is making $27.68 million available. FMPP funds projects that develop, coordinate, and expand direct producer-to-consumer markets such as farmers markets, roadside stands, agritourism activities, community-supported agriculture programs (CSA), or online sales. LFPP funds projects that develop and expand local and regional food business enterprises that engage as intermediaries in indirect producer to consumer marketing such as shared-use kitchens, food hubs, and food incubators. 

This year, $4.71 million in funding is available through the RFSP to support public-private partnerships that plan and develop relationships between local and regional producers, processors, intermediaries, and institutional markets or institutional food service operations. 

Applications must be submitted electronically through www.grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on June 5, 2026.

Rural Business Development Grant

The purpose of the program is to promote economic development and job creation projects through the awarding of grant funds to eligible entities. Applications will compete in two separate categories, business opportunity grants and business enterprise grants, for use in funding various business and

community projects that serve rural areas.  Application deadline: 6/30/2026

Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants

The Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Program provides grants to help rural communities use advanced telecommunications technology to connect to each other, and the world, overcoming the effects of remoteness and low population density.

Grant funds may be used to purchase or support:

• Audio, video, and interactive video equipment
• Broadband facilities used for distance learning or telemedicine (up to a certain percentage)
• Computer hardware, network components, and software
• Instructional programming
• Limited technical assistance and instruction on how to use distance learning and telemedicine equipment

Deadline: June 30, 2026

Community Facilities Direct Loan Program and Guaranteed Loan Program

Community Facilities Direct Loan Program

USDA Rural Development provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. Projects include fire and rescue stations, town halls, health care clinics and hospitals.

Application deadline: Open Year Round

Community Facilities Guaranteed Loan Program

USDA Rural Development provides loan guarantees to eligible lenders to develop essential community facilities (CF) in rural areas. Examples of community facilities include health care facilities, buildings like town halls, and public safety facilities such as fire departments.

Application deadline: Open Year Round

Rapid Response to Weather Events Across Food and Agricultural Systems - A1712

USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture seeks applications that focus on critical and urgent solutions in rapid response to weather and disaster impacts on the Nation’s food and agricultural systems and that clearly describe short-term deliverables (within 3 months of award receipt), including a plan for their adoption/use. Application window: Within 45 days of weather event or disaster

On-Farm Labor Housing Loans

USDA Rural Development provides low-interest loans to borrowers to develop or rehabilitate rental housing for very-low- to moderate-income farm laborers. Application window: Open until funds are depleted.

Single Family Housing Repair Loans & Grants

USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to very-low-income homeowners to repair, improve, or remove health and safety hazards to their homes. Application window: Open

Environmental Quality Incentives Program

High Tunnel Initiative

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is the flagship conservation program of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners integrate conservation into working lands. EQIP provides technical and financial assistance to agricultural producers and forest landowners to address natural resource concerns, such as improved water and air quality, increased soil health, drought mitigation and much more.

This particular EQIP initiative encourages producers to use High Tunnel Systems (aka “hoop houses”) to extend their growing season and protect plants from severe weather. Learn more and find your local service center at the link below.

This collection of thrifty favorites can help celebrate the season by using fresh, whole foods without breaking the bank.

Turkey Burgers

These heart-healthy Turkey Burgers are a great way to Eat Real Food.

Please visit the Food and Nutrition Service's website for additional recipes to support healthy families.

Italian Pasta Salad

Baked Beans

Fresh Fruit with Cinnamon Yogurt Dip