HeaterMeals Are NOW Available Through FEMA / DHS Grants

Many local and state law enforcement & emergency response agencies have expressed interest in using FEMA/Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grants to purchase HeaterMeals Self-Heating Meals. There is some confusion, however, whether FEMA/DHS allows the purchase of emergency meals through their grant programs.

That confusion stems from a recent change in the FEMA/DHS rules. In the past, agencies were not able to purchase HeaterMeals and similar products through these grant programs.

However, in 2009, FEMA/DHS changed that. Water, shelf stable emergency meals, and MREs, are now considered Critical Emergency Supplies, and can be purchased using FEMA/DHS grants. HeaterMeals qualifies as a shelf-stable, emergency meal.

The new position was explained in a January 2010 e-mail to a State Administrative Agency (SAA) officer, sent on behalf of C. Gary Rogers, Director of the Grant Programs Directorate, FEMA. The subject of the e-mail was, “Allowability of Critical Emergency Supplies in FY 2010 SHSP and EMPG.”

In that e-mail, it states that, “the purchase of critical emergency supplies (such as shelf stable food products…)…will continue to be allowable expenses in these respective FY 2010 programs.”

For details of which grant programs allow the purchase of “Critical Emergency Supplies,” please view my earlier blog entitled “HeaterMeals Available Through Five Grants,” or click here.

The entire e-mail is included below:

***Sent on behalf of C. Gary Rogers, Director, Grant Programs Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency***

This notice serves to clarify that the purchase of critical emergency supplies (such as shelf stable food products, water, and basic medical supplies), first identified as an allowable expense under both the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) and Emergency Management Performance Grants (EMPG) Program, will continue to be allowable expenses in these respective FY 2010 programs. The allowability of critical emergency supplies under these two programs will continue indefinitely unless otherwise noted. As noted in FY 2009, and continuing to be applicable unless otherwise noted, each State must have FEMA’s approval of a viable inventory management plan, an effective distribution strategy, sustainment costs for such an effort, and logistics expertise to avoid situations where funds are wasted because supplies are rendered ineffective due to lack of planning.