Q: Can these funds be used for a feasibility study?
A: This grant is intended to fund projects that bring immediate benefit to the community. A feasibility study may be more appropriately applied to another fund source.
Q: We ordered a piece of equipment that was delivered in April of this year. Is this eligible for reimbursement?
A: Goods and services purchased before the agreement start date will not be eligible for reimbursement.
Q: Can our organization apply for both grants, the over $5,000 funding and the funding for small equipment and installation up to $4,999.99?
A: Yes, an organization may apply for both grants.
Q: If I have a Unique Entity ID (UEI), then am I registered in System of Award Management (SAM)?
A: SAM registration includes acquiring a UEI, but it is not the entire process. Active SAM registration is a requirement of this grant.
Q: Are certain projects preferred over others?
A: The funding objectives outline the types of projects that we intend to fund.
Q: On the Grant Program Accounting System and Financial Capability Questionnaire, does a Federal appropriation count as a Federal award?
A: Yes, in this case an appropriate from Federal legislature would count as an award.
Q: We are a federally-recognized Tribe; do we have to upload our Secretary of State registration?
A: No, as a federally-recognized Tribe you are not required to provide this document.
Q: What is the difference between “equipment” and “supplies”?
A: Equipment is charged to the “equipment” budget category, and supplies are charged to the “operations” budget category, so it is helpful to understand the difference. Supplies is a term applied to items that generally have a lifespan of a year or less and are typically used up, such as pens, aluminum foil, printer toner, etc. Equipment does not get used up and has a lifespan of more than a year, such as computers, chairs, or a canopy.
Q: I’m having trouble opening the accordions on the Resiliency Grants information page. What do you recommend?
A: This issue can generally be resolved by clearing your browser history and closing/reopening your browser.
Q: Where can we find the Grant Program Accounting System & Financial Capability Questionnaire?
A: This and other forms related to the Resiliency Grant can be found here:
agr.wa.gov/services/food-access/hunger-relief-agency-hub/fa-forms-and-pubs
Q: Our organization was awarded other funding that requires a match. Can the Resiliency Grant be used as part of our match?
A: We are not aware of any restrictions for using Resiliency Grant awards as a match.
Q: Our organization is a Conservation District established pursuant to RCW 89.08 and are municipal special purpose districts; are we eligible to apply?
A: Yes, these organizations are eligible to apply for this funding.
Q: Does prevailing wage or Davis-Bacon apply to my project?
A: State prevailing wage requirements or Federal Davis-Bacon Act may apply to any project. WSDA FA staff are not responsible for determining prevailing wage rates or when they may apply to a project. An absolute determination regarding the applicability of prevailing wage rates can only be obtained from L&I. For information on the Washington Prevailing Wage please consult the L&I website Contractors/Employers (wa.gov) or contact L&I at
PW1@Lni.wa.gov or (855) 545-8163.
Q: Our organization will have a fiscal sponsor, because we are not currently a 501c3 or other type of registered non-profit. In the "Subrecipient 2" section I've selected the following:
6. Is your organization holding the agreement for another organization?
(I.e. fiscal sponsorship or other agreement)
Response: Yes, we plan to hold the agreement for a different organization.
However, we are then asked to submit SOS and EIN numbers as required fields. How should I fill this out?
A: Please enter N/A in these fields, or re-enter the information for the fiscal sponsor.
Q: When you ask for the start date of one of our agreements, do you mean start date of our CURRENT agreement, or the start date of the FIRST time we had an agreement?
A: Either answer is sufficient.
Q: How competitive can an application be for maintaining current operations instead of expanding or enhancing food access work?
A: We will not weigh one over the other – we plan to fund “maintenance levels” as well as some expansion projects, and neither is preferred over the other.
Q: We're trying to decide which project is the best fit, unless we can apply for both. The FAQ says an organization may apply for
both grants, but I didn't see restrictions on applying multiple times for the over $5k grant. Can you please advise?
A: Yes, your organization may apply for more than one over-$5,000 grant and it would be possible to be awarded more than once – it will depend on the other applications.
Q: Can our organization apply for both grants, the over $5,000 funding and the funding for small equipment and installation up to $4,999.99?
A: Yes, an organization may apply for both grants.
Q: This grant seems to be focused on operations and supplies. Is it appropriate to request funds for a capital equipment purchase through the over $5,000 program?
A: Our priorities this year include funding projects that bring immediate benefit to its intended beneficiaries, so if your project will do this it will help immensely in how it is rated. We are not planning to fund large projects that take all year to complete as we have in the past.
Q: For Capital Improvement Projects, are applicants expected to have bids secured by the time of application, or are we able to secure bids after receiving the notice of award?
A: Our expectation is that the necessary bids are acquired with 90 days of notification of award.
Q: There are a number of agencies that want to provide us a letter of support, but I don’t see a place to upload these in the application. Is this an allowable attachment of the Food Resiliency grant?
A: While a letter of support may not increase your odds of selection, you are absolutely welcome to provide that with your application. Since there is not an option to upload it with your application, please email it to the Resiliency Grant team (
foodassistancegrants@agr.wa.gov) and make mention of the letters somewhere in your application narrative.
Q: What kind of technical support can an organization new to state and federal agreements expect to receive?
A: Awarded subrecipients can expect the following:
- Multiple info sessions (required) covering a variety of topics, such as: contract overview, submittal requirements, progress reports, requirements for equipment and capital improvement projects over $5,000.00, and more. We also have four (4) info sessions already recorded on the website covering other topics leading up to the application launch.
- Email communication 24/7
- Phone calls and/or virtual meetings (Teams), scheduled as needed
Q: What is the cutoff time for application submission?
A: The application window closes at 11:59pm on July 31, 2023.
Q: When will notification letters be received?
A: We aim to send notification letters in middle to late August.
Q: If awarded, can we charge staff time back to 7/1/2023 and include this in our budget?
A: Yes, we do anticipate that agreements will be backdated to 7/1/2023, making these wages an eligible expense.
Q: If we are awarded, when can we begin submitting invoices for payment?
A: If awarded, invoices and all backup are to be submitted by the 20
th of the following month. More information on invoicing can be found in the 2022-2023 (last fiscal year) contract on the Resiliency Grants website.
Q: Is there a word count or character limit in the narrative sections?
A: No, for the narrative sections of the application there is not a limit to words or characters.
Q: Regarding the application budget questions, if our project costs will exceed the maximum award size, do you want the costs for the overall project or just the amount that would be applied to this grant?
A: Please explain how this fits into the larger project, but focus your budget on the amount that is to be charged to this grant.
Q: Will reviewers want details of what food we plan to buy with our award, such as milk/eggs/tortillas, or should we list “food”.
A: Entirely up to you how you wish to explain what you are purchasing. We suggest putting in as much detail as you would like the person/people reading your application to know – since that is all they will be privy to.
Q: We are a tribe, church, or public entity and therefore are not required to submit some documentation such as SOS, SAM and/or IRS. But these fields are required in the application. What do you recommend?
A: If you know your organization is not required to have this documentation, please enter ‘dummy’ information in place of actual information – such as “not required” or dates far into the future. As we will be doing our own internal technical reviews of this information, we will completely understand the reasoning for this. We apologize for the inconvenience!
Q: We noticed the focus is on funding organizations in rural counties. We are located in King county and the requirement that organizations be “rural or remote” might exclude us. Should we continue with our application?
A: While rural or less dense regions are considered underserved communities and are part of our funding priorities, not being located in one of these areas by no means excludes you from application or award.
Q: Our organization has locations all over the county covering several districts. But in the application, you can only select one district. How should we answer this question?
A: Please select one location, then include in your application narrative (where you think it best fits) that your organization has locations all over the county.