PRESS RELEASE

Long Beach, CA - The City of Long Beach today announced it will offer a free home meal delivery service for older adults, in an effort to further assist adults at high risk of COVID-19 and to provide essential economic stimulus to local eateries during the pandemic. The City will release a request for proposals (RFP) to contract with multiple Long Beach food providers to prepare and package the meals.

“This is a great opportunity to support the older adults in our community who are most in need at this time, as well as assist the food service industry which has been severely impacted as a result of the public health crisis,” said Mayor Robert Garcia.

The Great Plates Delivered Program will provide up to three free nutritious meals delivered daily to qualified adults over 65 years of age, or adults 60-64 who are at high risk of COVID-19, in partnership with local food providers and restaurants.

Restaurants and food providers interested in participating in the program are encouraged to complete the RFP process. Participation preference will be given to businesses that are locally owned and/or locally sourced, prioritize local jobs and worker retention, and provide meals that can be frozen and reheated, as well as meet nutritional standards and other safe food handling guidelines, in accordance with State guidelines. To participate in the RFP process, interested business owners should visit the Financial Management Purchasing Division webpage.

The RFP period will begin today, May 18, and closes at 11 a.m. this Thursday, May 21. Additional details are provided in the proposal.

The City will select multiple local food providers for participation in the program, in accordance with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) procurement criteria. 

Last month, Governor Newsom announced the launch of the first-in-the-nation “Great Plates Delivered: Home Meals for Seniors” partnership with counties, cities and tribes. The Long Beach version of the program is expected to begin on May 29, 2020, and continue through June 10, the timeframe approved by FEMA. The State of California intends to request an extension of the program into July. 

More information on how residents can apply to receive meals will be forthcoming. 

For questions related to the RFP, contact rfppurchasing@longbeach.gov. 

For the latest information on COVID-19, with details on all that the City of Long Beach is doing to keep our residents safe, visit:longbeach.gov/COVID19 and follow @LongBeachCity on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.