Foundation has awarded $30,000 grant to nonprofit to support 2025 initiative
In late December, the board of directors of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation awarded All Faiths Food Bank of Sarasota a $30,000 grant from the Gould Family Trust Foundation to support the 2025 Campaign Against Summer Hunger, the Foundation has announced.
Since 2014, together with its donors, Gulf Coast has provided more than $2.7 million to All Faiths Food Bank’s Campaign Against Summer Hunger, a news release points out.
“Gulf Coast’s pivotal partnership with All Faiths Food Bank and their Campaign Against Summer Hunger has transformed the way nutritious meals are provided to our region’s children in the summer months,” said Gulf Coast President and CEO Phillip Lanham in the release. “With enhanced summer feeding programs, creating a collaborative distribution to reach children where they are, and steadfast donor support, the Campaign Against Summer Hunger shows the value of a long-term, effective collaboration between a community foundation and a non-profit organization,” Lanham added.
“Gulf Coast and its donors, in partnership with All Faiths Food Bank,” initiated the Campaign Against Summer Hunger in 2014, as a result of a child hunger study, the release explains. “The study found that children who typically receive free breakfast and lunch at school cannot always access nutritious meals during the summer.” Yet, the release continues, children who have food insecurity “are at risk of serious or chronic physical and mental health issues.” Moreover, it says, “Existing health problems are exacerbated,” and children become more vulnerable to routine illness. “Providing accessible healthy food helps children grow and thrive to become healthy and productive adults.”
“Gulf Coast has provided advocacy and strong leadership for the Campaign since its inception,” the release notes. In 2014, more than $1.1 million in support was raised, “resulting in the distribution of 766,253 pounds of food, serving 15,500 children,” the release says. Ten years later, in the summer of 2024, the release adds, the program reached 35,398 children, showing the “increased need for this community resource.”
“This generous support from Gulf Coast Community Foundation is a lifeline for the thousands of children in our community who face hunger during the summer,” said All Faiths Food Bank President and CEO Nelle S. Miller in the release. “With inflation driving up costs and families still recovering from the hurricanes, we are seeing even more of our neighbors who may have never needed this kind of help before. Thanks to this funding, more children will have the nutritious food they need, so they can grow, learn and thrive,” Miller added.
“All Faiths expects an increased need again this summer,” the release notes. Two million dollars is needed to support the 2025 Campaign Against Summer Hunger, to provide food for 35,752 children in Sarasota and DeSoto counties, the release points out.
Community members can find many ways to support solutions to end hunger by visiting the All Faiths Foodbank website, www.allfaithsfoodbank.org, the release adds.