A program that delivers boxes of food to struggling Alaskans is set to end this summer.
A confluence of events that threatened food security in the state prompted the emergency aid starting in late 2025.
A disaster in Western Alaska brought on by ex-Typhoon Halong in October, combined with an extended federal government shutdown that caused delays to food aid around the same time, made access to food uncertain for many Alaskans.
In response, the state sent $4 million to the Food Bank of Alaska to bolster food sourcing and distribution efforts. That money paid for thousands of emergency food packages. But the funding expires in June, cutting off a resource that some communities have relied on and isn’t easily replaceable.
The Food Bank of Alaska has been coordinating with its more than 150 partners to identify community needs, and to deliver the Emergency Food Assistance boxes.
“Alaska is no stranger to disaster,” said Grace Heglund-Lohman, advocacy manager at the food bank. “But what we saw this fall was pretty unique in terms of how many crises compounded all at once.”
Halong displaced more than 1,600 people from their home communities and their usual sources of food. Around the same time, the government shutdown caused delays for over $24 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance funding slated for Alaska.
“Everyone was looking for some emergency food resources at the same time, and the solution that we came up with for efficiency was to get these pre-packaged, shelf-stable boxes up to Alaska and then out to our current and temporary partners to provide some relief,” Heglund-Lohman said.
As of mid-April, the food bank had used nearly three-quarters of the funding the state allocated, distributing more than 72,000 food boxes to food banks and pantries. Each box contains 14 meals, with 60 boxes fitting on a single pallet.
The boxes are packaged in Indiana with a partner that has the necessary space and resources to accommodate the pre-packaged boxes, Heglund-Lohman said. Then they’re shipped to Anchorage and on to communities, including Bethel, where many Halong refugees ended up.
Bethel Community Foundation, which serves about 50 villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, is one of the organizations that requested the food boxes. The foundation has handled 64 Emergency Food Assistance pallets amounting to about 64,000 pounds of food, according to Carey Atchak, the foundation's food security coordinator.
“We have families calling with tremendous gratitude,” Atchak said.
Atchak and her husband, Joe, delivered the food boxes to 11 villages via the Kuskokwim Ice Road, only accessible during the winter.
With rising fuel and energy prices, community members have less money to spend on food, Joe Atchak said.
“People need to eat,” he said.
The Food Bank of Alaska has until June, the end of the state fiscal year, until the Emergency Food Assistance program comes to a close. By then, the food bank anticipates 1,800 pallets will have been sent out across the state.
The Alaska Legislature is currently in the process of allocating funding for food banks and pantries for the 2027 fiscal year. The Food Bank of Alaska initially requested $5 million, but the latest draft of the operating budget includes only $2 million.
Without predictable and sustainable funding from the state, Heglund-Lohman said, the food bank will continue in an unstable cycle.
“We just wait for the next disaster,” she said. “We're trying to be ready at all times, but predictable state funding would allow us to stay ready instead of having to get ready in a crisis.”
