The USDA Rural Development Office has announced grants to the Marana Heritage Farm for $6,000 and the Marana Community Food Bank for $8,000.

The grant to the Marana Heritage Farm will be used in collaboration with other funding to provide a portable refrigeration unit to extend the shelf life of freshly harvested produce, as well as a Ramada structure to protect the unit.  Additionally, the funding will purchase door flaps for the unit to keep a constant temperature while loading and unloading produce.

The grant to the Marana Community Food Bank will be used to move interior walls of the building to make the facility more user friendly and the warehouse areas better suited for food storage and handling. These funds along with other funding will also be used to purchase additional warehouse racks.

The Marana Heritage Farm and the Marana Community Food Bank are affiliated with the Community Food Bank in Tucson.

As always, the USDA Rural Development Office staff will offer hands-on assistance with these projects.

For more information contact Tony Bruno at (520 622-0525 x 245 or Jack Parris at (520) 622-0525 x 215.