Meals and More Grant Now Available
Over 1 in 4 Philadelphia residents are food insecure and below the federal poverty line. Addressing these realities will take a comprehensive approach in which every Philadelphian has a role to play. Philadelphia’s Meals and More initiative uses a proven community engagement model that empowers citizens to combat hunger and other issues of poverty head on. This effort has funded five meal providers to each expand their meal service by one meal time per week.
A second round of grants in the fall will enable five more meal providers to each open a new meal. The initiative will also recruit, train and support 150-200 volunteers towards completing 50 hours of community service that will connect vulnerable residents to healthy emergency meals and to vital services. The initiative will significantly reduce the gap in available meals versus need in downtown Philadelphia, improve the physical health of meal guests, and better address their holistic needs creating a pathway to greater personal autonomy.
We are looking for five meal providers that are ready to expand their meal service into a new time. Providers who expand their meal service will be eligible for the following:
• $7,500 in unrestricted funding to support the development of a new weekly meal service
• $1,000 in funds to purchase healthy food from a local food distribution organization
• Support from the Mayor’s Office of Civic Engagement and Volunteer Services and the Mayor’s Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity to recruit new volunteers and organizations to assist with meal service
• 10 hours of high quality training for new and existing volunteers in food safety, healthy food preparation, and social service skills
• Assistance in identifying social service agencies as partners to provide social and health services to guests
THE DEADLINE TO APPLY IS OCTOBER 17th, 2014.
Apply online here today!
A paper application can be also be downloaded here.
For additional information, please read our 2014 Fall Meals and More Recruitment Flier.