Grants for Food Pantries

What does this program do?

This program provides funding to assist in the development of essential community facilities in rural communities with extreme unemployment and severe economic depression.

An essential community facility is one that provides an essential service to the local community, is needed for the orderly development of the community, serves a primarily rural area, and does not include private, commercial or business undertakings.

How may funds be used?

To construct, enlarge or improve community facilities for health care, public safety and public service. Grants may be made in combination with other financial assistance such as a Community Facilities direct or guaranteed loan, applicant contribution or funding from other sources. Examples of essential community facilities include:

• Health Care: hospitals, medical clinics, dental clinics, nursing homes, assisted-living facilities
• Public Facilities: city/town/village halls, courthouses, airport hangers, street improvements
• Community Support Services: child care centers, community centers, fairgrounds, transitional housing
• Public Safety: fire halls, police stations, prisons, jails, police vehicles, fire trucks, public works vehicles and equipment
• Educational: museums, libraries, private schools
• Utility: telemedicine, distance learning
• Local Food Systems: community gardens, food pantries, community kitchens, food banks, food hubs, greenhouses, kitchen appliances
• For a complete list, see Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 3570.7

What kind of funding is available?

• Grants up to 75% of eligible project cost based on need and funding availability
• Applicant must be eligible for grant assistance, which is determined by the population and median household income of the service area
• Grant funds must be available

NOTE: Letters of introduction will be accepted only the first month of each quarter ('letter of inquiry' deadlines above). Immediately after that they will be reviewed and possible grant recipients will receive grant applications for completion. Grant decisions are made each quarter with deadlines on 'full proposal' deadlines above.

The Doris Day Animal Foundation funds nonprofit 501c3 organizations that need assistance in their work of caring for and protecting animals. Through our grants, scores of animal rescue and welfare organizations have received sustaining resources to continue their work, to offer additional services or to expand their reach to the animals who most critically need their help. A special focus for DDAF is on programs benefitting senior pets and the people who love them.

What programs does DDAF generally fund?

• Spay/neuter programs, special needs programs, senior care programs, medical expenses for senior animals, rescue and placement of senior animals, and pet food pantries.
• We have on occasion funded grants for therapy dogs in hospice situations, training of assistance dogs, wildlife rehabilitation, protective vests for police dogs, education programs, and even a scholarship in the field of veterinary medicine.
• Recently, we have been focused on assisting senior companion animals, but we are open to your suggestions.
• We are always interested in the many ways loving people around the country are helping animals.

MLK Day of Service Grant

Inclusive volunteering is great for people and communities. When people give back together, they build friendships, practice their civic duty, learn skills they can use in the future, and help people in need.

But inclusive volunteering is not just a great idea for people—inclusive volunteering is a win for organizations. By developing inclusive volunteer activities, organizations show their dedication not just to their community, but also to supporting genuine inclusion for all members of their community, regardless of background or ability. This year, The Arc is once again partnering with the Corporation for National and Community Service to offer $5,000 and $10,000 grants to nonprofit community organizations to develop service projects that commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Projects must be designed for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) to volunteer alongside people without disabilities and should focus on providing food assistance to people in need in the community.

Over the past five years, The Arc has helped organizations across the country implement inclusive volunteering projects. They’ve seen firsthand the value of inclusive volunteering for the organization, with activities leading to new community partnerships and increased ability to reach new groups and service areas.

Grantees will:

• Partner with a service club to recruit volunteers with and without disabilities from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds to participate in the project
• Work with hunger-focused groups (e.g., community food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens) to deliver emergency food aid to people in need
• Provide food aid on the MLK Day of Service and continue through the end of the grant (May 31, 2020)
• Raise $31,000 ($10,00 grant) or $15,500 ($5,000 grant) in in-kind or cash matching funds to support the project

Introduction

The Arc is proud to have been selected by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency that leads the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, to help plan and execute volunteer projects that unite Americans in service for the MLK Day of Service and throughout the year.

The Arc will work with selected applicants to accomplish the following goals:

• Partner with a local service club or organization to recruit volunteers with and without disabilities from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.
• Engage volunteers to serve a specified number of service hours.
• Work with hunger-focused groups or organizations (e.g. community food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens) to deliver emergency food aid to people in need.
• Provide food aid on the MLK Day of Service (January 20, 2020) and MLK Day of Service weekend (January 17-20, 20120). Volunteer service activities can also occur before the Day of Service and continue through the end of the grant period (August 31, 2020).
• Contribute in-kind or cash matching funds to support the project during the grant year (September 1, 2019 – August 31, 2020).
• Build or enhance their organization’s use of best practices in recruiting and managing volunteers of all abilities from diverse backgrounds.
• Share print-quality pictures and stories and report information about the project with CNCS, The Arc and the public.

The Arc will award competitive grants of either $5,000 or $10,000 to selected community organizations that commit to these activities.

What is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service?

After a long struggle, legislation was signed in 1983 creating a federal holiday marking the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday as a national day of service and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service with leading the effort to engage Americans in community service to mark this day. Taking place each year on the third Monday in January, the MLK Day of Service is the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service-– a "day on, not a day off." It calls for Americans from all walks of life to work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems. The MLK Day of Service empowers individuals, strengthens communities, bridges barriers, creates solutions to social problems, and moves us closer to Dr. King's vision of a "Beloved Community."

Why Serve on MLK Day of Service?

Dr. King believed in a nation of freedom and justice for all, and encouraged all citizens to live up to the purpose and potential of America by applying the principles of nonviolence to make this country a better place to live—creating the Beloved Community. The MLK Day of Service is a way to transform Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and teachings into community action that helps solve social problems. That service may meet a tangible need, or it may meet a need of the spirit. On this day, Americans of every age and background celebrate Dr. King through service projects that strengthen communities, empower individuals, bridge barriers, and create solutions.

Why address food insecurity?

It seems improbable in a country where 90 million citizens are battling obesity that 49 million are also having food security issues. However, that's the reality in the United States today. And more than 16 million of our most vulnerable residents-- America's children-- are paying the price. Providing food assistance is one way communities can help improve all people’s access to healthy food.

Why The Arc?

As the largest and oldest advocacy organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families, The Arc knows that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) have a lot to offer their community, and many do so by giving back in a variety of ways.

The Arc is proud to be a part of the MLK Day of Service and to support community organizations to develop volunteer projects that include volunteers with and without disabilities to serve people in need.

In 2020,77 CNCS will invest $206,345 (30% of the project cost) to support The Arc’s project. This investment will be matched with $487,857 in in-kind support from organizations and The Arc and subgrantee organizations. This in-kind support will be financed by approximately $117,086 in public money (24%) and $370,771 (76%) in private resources.

NOTE: Applications may be submitted at any time during this funding cycle, open from Feb 1 to the deadline above. Please note that applications will only remain active in our system for 90 days, and at the end of this period they will be automatically rejected.

Guidelines

Local Community grants range from a minimum of $250 to a maximum of $5,000. Eligible nonprofit organizations must operate on the local level (or be an affiliate/chapter of a larger organization that operates locally) and directly benefit the service area of the facility from which they are requesting funding.Organizations may only submit a total number of 25 applications and/or receive up to 25 grants within the 2019 grant cycle.

Established in 2019, the Rooted in Evidence Food Bank Grant and Evaluation Program funds eligible food banks working to support innovative and dynamic programming to improve the health and dietary quality of emergency food recipients. In this new round of funding, a total of $100,000 will be awarded, in the form of four $25,000 grants. In addition, selected grantees will receive an evaluation designed by Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition in collaboration with grantee staff and volunteers, an added benefit worth approximately $25,000 per grant.

Unlike any other grant program, Rooted in Evidence is intended to provide visibility and measurable impact of programs that create lasting change within the food insecurity landscape. By providing food banks with the tools necessary to measure impact of their programs while simultaneously building capacity for measurement and evaluation, programs will be enhanced in order to maximize time, talent and resources to better benefit the communities served .Funding for this program is provided by the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition Foundation.

The Food Insecurity Landscape

Food insecurity is complicated.

It is the result of the convergence of a wide spectrum of socioeconomic and other factors. There continues to be a great need to research the upstream influences that cause food insecurity as well as innovative solutions to address this public health concern.

It’s prevalent.

With nearly one in eight Americans classified as food insecure, most of us know someone who is struggling to put food on the table.

It overlaps with obesity and chronic disease.

Poor access to healthy foods leads to poor dietary quality, and that leads to the comorbidity of chronic diseases and conditions such as cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and various forms of cancer.

It creates negative outcomes.

Food insecurity and poor dietary quality lead to cognition, learning and growth issues for children, as well as increased risk for chronic diseases among adults. In addition, households that struggle with food insecurity often have to make tradeoffs with other basic needs such as medical care, utilities or housing.

What We Aim to Fund

Since the focus of Rooted in Evidence is to enhance evaluation and dissemination capacity, we anticipate that food banks will allocate dedicated staff time for communication and collaboration with GSCN through in-person and virtual meetings, data collection and management activities, and reporting.

GSCN intends to fund innovative and dynamic programming and/or initiatives that seek to improve dietary quality among food pantry and food bank clients. These approaches could include existing or new/adapted programming that may include various:

• Settings and distribution sites (e.g., mobile or other “pop-up” pantries, college campuses, schools, traditional pantries, clinics).
• Components or levels of the emergency food system (e.g., distribution, procurement, food environment, client interactions to target knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors).
• Target populations (e.g., children, adults, families, seniors, college students, staff/volunteers, cancer survivors or other disease conditions, urban/rural).

What GSCN Will Provide 

• Measurement and evaluation support (e.g., training, technical assistance, guidance, measures, data collection tools, analysis, interpretation of results, dissemination).
• Marketing expertise and resources (e.g., copywriting, logos, strategy, and technical assistance to develop story ideas/pitching to media, slide decks, infographics, social media activity).
• Coordination of Institutional Review Board (IRB) application. This will ensure that results from the funded projects will follow ethics guidelines and be eligible for publication and other dissemination.
• Contribution to manuscript preparation through review and co-authorship.

What Food Bank Grantees Will Provide

• Staff or volunteer time for data collection on your proposed project and coordination with GSCN.
• Staff time for coordination with the GSCN marketing team and provision of requested materials.
• Coordinate with GSCN staff for Institutional Review Board application. This may require research ethics and compliance training for those involved with data collection.
• Development of peer-reviewed manuscript(s) reporting key findings from grantees’ projects.

There will be the opportunity beyond grant terms for scientific and other broader field dissemination of results through publications, presentations at conferences, etc. Grantees can help serve as “ambassadors” for their programs, extending the reach of funded programming for a larger impact. (There may be an opportunity for some funding to support these activities.)

NOTE: If the proposal meets the stated guidelines and priorities of the Foundation & Memorial Trust, Grant Application instructions will be sent to the applicant.

About The Memorial Trust

In 1975, two years after his death, The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust was established in New York. The four original trustees were a member of the Snow family, a lawyer, a publishing associate and a corporate trustee, the Irving Trust Company, now BNY Mellow N.A.. The current Trustees continue this legacy being well aware of the donor and his beliefs, values and ideals. The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust strategically focuses funding within specific geographic regions of the United States across a range of program areas. They meet once a year, usually in June.

The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust

The Memorial Trust strategically focuses funding within specific geographic regions of the United States across a range of program areas (prioritized below and visually depicted here) while responding to the ever-changing needs of various segments of the population, especially to the needs of youth and people who are disadvantaged economically, emotionally, or physically.

Dating back to the inception of the Trust in 1973, the primary and overarching grant making priority has been and continues to be programs that focus on education.

• Education: This program area targets funds to organizations that provide educational opportunities or academic assistance to individuals who demonstrate an intellectual aptitude and a financial need. Examples include scholarships, fellowships, academic tutoring or counseling, literacy, and journalism.

Secondarily, the Trust considers proposals within the areas of Arts and Culture, Community Initiatives, and Youth Programs. The Trustee’s objective is to extend the primary educational focus by providing funding support within these additional program areas.

• Arts and Culture: This program offers grants that promote arts education and appreciation, particularly for young adults, via the development of educational curriculum and professional instruction including visiting artists and performance support for targeted populations.
• Community Initiatives: This program provides funding for programs or services that directly improve the quality of life within the geographic focus areas that we serve. Examples include support for libraries, food pantries and shelters, and neighborhood revitalization. Generally, the Trust does not seek proposals for health care initiatives or animal welfare programs.
• Youth Programs: This program area offers grants that provide character education or enrichment opportunities via mentoring or after-school programming. 

As a third priority, the Trust does consider proposals in the areas of Disabilities and Universal Access, Environmental, and Historic Preservation. As these are not core focus areas, funding is often limited. Priority will be given to proposals with an educational focus.

• Disabilities and Universal Access: This program offers grants to organizations in complying with ADA requirements within their facilities (e.g. elevator, handrails, automatic doors, and ramps) or offering services targeted for individuals with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities.
• Environmental: This program provides funds for organizations that strive to protect strategic parcels of land and bodies of water as well as programs that educate the general public on key environmental issues such as conservation and water management.
• Historic Preservation: This program provides funding for organizations that preserve historical artifacts (e.g. sites, structures, objects) and accounts (e.g. events), and educate the greater community on their significance. Examples include museums, historical societies and educational programming.