# Developing a Support Application for Food Pantries (SAFPAS) to Improve Client Access to Healthy Foods & Enhance Emergency Preparedness

> **NIH NIH R34** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $245,625

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Food banks and food pantries are critical community-based institutions for addressing food insecurity, which is
associated with obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. The effectiveness and efficiency
of food assistance programs are constrained by many factors, including: recruitment and training of of
staff/volunteers; meeting client needs for acceptable, healthy choices; and providing real-time information for
planning and emergency operations. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated all of these problems and
continues to do so. The effective management of food pantries, before, during, and after the pandemic, is a top
priority as resources are limited, communications are often decentralized, and the in-house ability to adapt
practices to an online setting is nearly non-existent. As well, pantry volunteers, commonly older adults, are
both the main support staff at food pantries and the most at risk for severe COVID-19 health effects. Based on
substantial preliminary data and more than two decades of experience working to improve Baltimore’s food
system, this NHLBI Clinical Trial Pilot Study will develop and pilot a working mobile Support Application for
Food PAntrieS (SAFPAS) application (app) to address these challenges. No such app that offers capabilities
for staff/volunteer recruitment, training, and scheduling; nutrition education and messaging with clients; a safe
form of client choice; and/or bidirectional communications for emergency preparedness and response currently
exists. Our formative research with Baltimore food pantry and Maryland Food Bank personnel found high
enthusiasm for an app that combines these features, as did our recent national survey of food pantry directors.
This study will develop and pilot the app, and evaluate its feasibility and impact on food pantry staff emergency
preparedness, stocking, and client uptake of healthful foods and beverages in Baltimore, with the following
aims: 1) to develop and optimize a technically stable, functional app to improve food pantry services in
Baltimore; 2) to pilot the SAFPAS app with Baltimore-based food pantries and clients, the Maryland Food
Bank, and Baltimore’s Emergency Operations Center team, and assess its feasibility; and 3) to evaluate the
impact of SAFPAS on the healthiness of foods received by food pantry clients in a sample of 360 low-income
urban clients (at baseline), drawn from 20 pantries measured pre- and post-intervention in a randomized
controlled pilot trial. Findings will allow us to: 1) produce a functional and acceptable app; 2) provide
preliminary data for power calculations for a future full-scale trial; 3) generate and refine impact and process
evaluation instruments and set standards for implementation; and 4) establish protocols and demonstrate our
ability to recruit and retain food pantries and food pantry clients. We will assess potential scalability of the app
by conducting formative and feasibility assessme...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10749918
- **Project number:** 5R34HL161566-02
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Daniel Jeremy Barnett
- **Activity code:** R34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $245,625
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-12-07 → 2025-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10749918

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10749918, Developing a Support Application for Food Pantries (SAFPAS) to Improve Client Access to Healthy Foods & Enhance Emergency Preparedness (5R34HL161566-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10749918. Licensed CC0.

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