(WENY)-- New York State is just days away from the official Plastic Bag Ban going into effect, so local food banks and food providers are getting ready for this big change. The ban will eliminate all single-use plastic bags in stores across New York State. The DEC is working with these food providers to make the transition easier by providing BYO (bring your own) bags all over the state. 

"We're promoting reusable bags, bring them with you, keep them in the car, keep them in your coat, and when ever and where ever use a reusable bag and it helps us reduce the amount of plastic in the environment, takes the plastic out of the landfills, it's good for the environment and good for our community," says Martin Brand with the DEC. 

The DEC delivered 500 bags to the Food Bank of the Southern Tier Friday morning, which the CEO of the Food Bank says will have an immediate impact on their non-profit.

"I think this is going to be a great way to get those bags into low to moderate income households all across the region and hopefully they'll be a ripple effect. Because they can use them in different ways in different aspects of their lives," says Natasha Thompson, President and CEO of the Food Bank of the Southern Tier. 

Today was the DEC's first delivery of the new bags and they plan to continue to provide more over the course of the next few months across the state.

"We have about 270,000 bags that we're going to be distributing here in the next couple of months. So we're distributing them all around the state so, it's to help with this transition and certainly help with low and moderate-income families and communities," Brand tells WENY News.

The ban will officially begin on Sunday March 1st throughout New York State.