Press Releases
Eighteen Mini-Grants Awarded to Nonprofit Organizations for Food Security Efforts
For Immediate Release: Monday, October 15, 2018
Manna Food Center, the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Montgomery County Food Council have awarded $30,000 in capacity-and infrastructure-building Community Food Rescue (CFR), a program of Manna Food Center mini-grants to eighteen county nonprofit organizations involved in food security efforts.
The mini-grants support the recommendations of the County’s Food Security Plan, which sets forth a vision for Montgomery County in which all people at all times have access to safe, sufficient, nutritious food, with dignity. The organizations selected to receive grants will apply their funding to specific efforts designed to increase the capacity and/or infrastructure for food security in the county. The funded projects must also increase the efficiency and effectiveness of efforts to reduce food insecurity in the county using partnerships and collaborations.
The CFR mini-grants are funded and administered by DHHS in coordination with CFR. A Montgomery County Food Council grants-evaluation team reviewed and evaluated the grant applications and made funding recommendations to DHHS.
CFR Grants
The nonprofit organizations receiving CFR mini-grants are: Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington; Bethesda Help Inc.; Chinese Christian Herald Crusades; Community Health and Empowerment through Education and Research; Community Preservation and Development Corporation; Coordination Council of Chinese American Associations; Difference Makers; Gaithersburg HELP Inc.; God Glorified Church of God in Christ; Healing and Deliverance Ministries Inc.; Interfaith Works Inc.; Ministries United Silver Spring Takoma Park Inc. ; Montgomery College; Mount Jezreel Community Development Corp.; Olney Help Inc.; Rainbow Community Development Center; September House of MAJ Inc.; and Yad Yehuda of Greater Washington.
Jackie DeCarlo, chief executive officer of Manna Food Center, said, “I can’t think of a better time than this week, while we celebrate the first Community Food Rescue Week in Montgomery County, to acknowledge the generosity of our community and the incredible work of these Community Food Rescue mini-grant recipients who are so critical to reducing hunger and food waste in the county. Ending hunger in Montgomery County will only be possible if our community supports and lifts one another up in service of our shared mission.”
Mark Hodge, assistant chief operating officer in Montgomery County DHHS commented: "DHHS is proud of the work our community nonprofits are doing around food security. It is great that we had some funding to give to them to increase their capacity to serve hungry residents of Montgomery County."
Heather Bruskin, executive director of the Montgomery County Food Council, said, “The Food Council was pleased to support the review and evaluation of the mini-grants applications, and is tremendously grateful to the five current and former Food Council members who lent their food system insights and expertise to the grant review process. These mini-grant awards provide essential support to some of the county’s smaller food assistance providers that are critical to the communities they serve, enabling them to increase food access for more county residents and strengthening the Food Security Plan’s collaborative efforts to achieve our shared goal of a food secure Montgomery County.”
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Media Contacts:
- Heather Bruskin, Montgomery Food Council
Media Contact: Heather Bruskin, MC Food Council 806-395-5593, Mark Hodge, DHHS 240-777-1568