WASHINGTON (March 21, 2024) The Alliance to End Hunger is pleased to announce the recipients of our inaugural grant program: the 2024 Zero Hunger Grants: Creating Stronger Hunger Free Communities. This new grant opportunity was created through a strategic planning process in 2023 that revealed Hunger Free Community organizations nationwide facing significant financial challenges, especially with the decline in funding post-COVID. A key strategy identified in the plan was to provide financial support to the network partners where possible, providing the impetus for this grant project. The Alliance successfully secured $50,000 in grant funds for use in 2024 to distribute to five incredible organizations this year.
The purpose of the grant is to advance a goal/goals related to the Alliance to End Hunger’s Hunger Free Communities Initiative promoting multisector, collective impact approaches to ending hunger at the local or state level. Requested funds would be used for building organizational or network capacities to engage in systemic change rooted in racial equity and community engagement.
The Alliance is thrilled to be able to support the following five organizations and their initiatives and congratulates and applauds them for their commitment and dedication to serving their communities. The organization also thanks everyone who participated in the selection process as it commits to creating the most accessible and inclusive grant selection process possible.
The following are the recipients of the grant and a summary of the initiative they will be advancing this year.
- Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee: Forming a Food Equity Task Force which will participate in a study focused on current efforts to provide food for People of Color in Northeast Tennessee. Study results will help to create an action plan for hunger equity that SHFBNT will implement with the help of several close partners.
- Community Food Advocates: Creation of a new coalition focused on connecting healthy food access to city planning policies in NYC – specifically, quality grocery stores in low income and gentrified communities. Funds will support a convening of community leaders with expertise in high-poverty community development who have worked on solutions to increase fresh, affordable grocery access in their communities.
- Livingston County United Way: Producing 2,500 durable and folded paper maps named “Z- Cards” that include resources and support systems available in Livingston County to enable those without access to Wi-Fi, or who identify as housing insecure, to access information about and connect to available support services.
- Arizona Food Bank Network: Developing and administering a needs assessment survey and several focus groups to gather data on food insecurity amongst the queer community across Arizona. A “Hunger Free Community Coalition for Queer Arizonans” report will be published with the help of this research and is designed to be a multisector collective effort involving 20+ organizations.
- San Diego Hunger Coilition: Supporting the development of updated data and mapping dashboards that identify gaps in nutrition services and prioritize communities that are disproportionately impacted by hunger in San Diego.
Congratulations to our grant recipients and thank you for your work!
“To date, the Alliance has been able to support our Hunger Free Communities Network™ through convenings, technical assistance and trainings. We are so happy to be able to add financial support to our portfolio in supporting these groups as they endeavor to end hunger in their communities” stated Minerva Delgado.
