Total of $107,000 to help with mobile pantries, BackPacks, food purchases and data-tracking software
“As hunger continues to affect our neighbors throughout the region, seven foundations recently awarded grants to All Faiths Food Bank programs that provide food for people in need and software that helps the organization better track and respond to food insecurity,” the food bank has announced.
Totaling $107,000, the grants will support a variety of All Faiths programs, the release explains. The funders are the Bank of America Client Foundation, $40,000 for the BackPack program; the Regmark Foundation, $30,000 for the purchase of food; the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, $15,000 for Link2Feed; the First Horizon Foundation, $10,000 for mobile pantries; the Venice Yacht Club Charitable Foundation, $5,000 for BackPacks; Venice Golf and Country Club Foundation, $5,000 for BackPacks; and the Wawa Foundation, $2,000 for mobile pantries, the release points out.
“The BackPack program was All Faiths Food Bank’s first child hunger-focused initiative, launched more than 16 years ago,” the release says. It “provides pre-packed food bags, or ‘BackPacks,’ to students for weekends” and during holiday periods and school breaks, the release notes. In addition to their distribution at schools, the release says, BackPacks are provided “through child-centered community organizations, including public libraries, agencies and nonprofits.”
The release further explains that the Mobile Pantry program ensures that healthful foods — including meats, produce and nonperishable items — “are easily accessible for people in need. Last year alone,” the release continues, “the food bank held or supplied food for 725 food distributions each month, providing more than 20 million meals” to more than 80,000 neighbors “in convenient locations and at various times, to lower barriers to participation.”
The release also notes, “Link2Feed is a client intake and reporting software program used by food banks to generate real-time data reports and increase the understanding of food insecurity in their communities.”
“We continue to be grateful for the organizations that invest in our community, strategically as well as with great empathy,” said All Faiths President and CEO Nelle S. Miller in the release. “Thanks to our most recent foundation grants, we will be able to provide food for neighbors experiencing hunger as well as to continue to track data that helps us to reach more people and families in need.”
The release further explains, “All Faiths Food Bank is the only food bank and largest hunger relief organization in Sarasota and DeSoto counties, providing millions of meals each year in collaboration with more than 300 agencies and programs throughout the community.”
To learn more about All Faiths Food Bank, visit allfaithsfoodbank.org or call 941-379-6333.