The Food for Montgomery Fund has deployed over $2.6 million to meet the urgent needs thanks for the generosity of hundreds of people, businesses, and foundations.  Check out our recent update to hear from partners about how those dollars are working throughout our community and the work that remains:

 
 

Resilience Building ($1.2 million+)

Our latest round of grants totaling over $1.2 million will build the resiliency of 15 nonprofit and faith-based partners to more effectively and efficiently meet the needs throughout Montgomery County.  Specifically, these investments will:

  • improve access to produce, eggs, dairy, and meat that families need to stay healthy;

  • provide the equipment and staff that food distribution partners need to effectively reach those in need throughout the county; and

  • foster connections to long-term food security resources that will help families recover from the pandemic.

  • Afrithrive to support its two-acre farm and community gardening program to engage African immigrants in growing culturally specific produce which is hard to obtain through most food distribution providers.

    American Muslim Senior Society to support staffing, equipment, and cold storage necessary to strengthen its food security work and maximize the power of its volunteer network.

    BlackRock Center for the Arts / Up-County Consolidation Hub to hire a bilingual social worker to connect vulnerable families to sustainable food resources and supports that are vital to their recovery.

    Celestial Manna for staffing needed to advance food recovery efforts that prevent food waste and save thousands of dollars.

    Charles Koiner Center for Urban Farming to support the development of an urban farm and community gardening program in Wheaton, MD that will enable residents to grow their own culturally appropriate food.

    Community Health and Empowerment through Education and Research (CHEER) to support community-garden work that will engage Long Branch area residents to grow their own food for their community.

    Guru Gobind Singh Foundation to support expanded storage that will enable this volunteer-driven effort to sustain its food security work.

    Hughes United Methodist / Mid-County Consolidation Hub in partnership with So What Else and Impact Silver Spring: $150,000 to establish a prepared meals program that will utilize shared resources to support culinary training and nutrition education classes while also providing hundreds of culturally appropriate meals for highly vulnerable residents facing food insecurity.

    Kingdom Fellowship CDC / East County Consolidation Hub to support the development of an innovative cold storage resource to help hub partners prevent waste and distribute food more efficiently. Hub partners include Kingdom Fellowship, Rainbow Community Development Center, Kings & Priests Court Int'l Ministries, and People's Community Baptist Church.

    Manna Food Center, A Place of Hope, Co-Health, Ethiopian Community Center Maryland, Identity, Kings and Priests’ Court International Ministries, and Southern African Community USA to enable outreach partners to connect residents with Manna Food Center’s resources and provide vouchers to purchase culturally specific foods to meet their needs.

    The Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland and its partners, the Crossroads Community Food Network and FRESHFARM, to build the capacity of local farmers markets so they can more effectively reach and serve customers that rely on federal nutrition benefits, thereby increasing access to healthy food from local farmers.

    Rainbow Community Development Center for staffing necessary to foster resiliency in the East County region through collaborative work with key partners and to sustain the organization’s expansion spurred by the pandemic.

    Red Wiggler Community Farm to employ adults with developmental disabilities to grow healthy food for group homes and food distribution partners throughout the county.

    Shepherd’s Table to support the necessary equipment and kitchen improvements to sustain and deepen collaborations bringing prepared meals to individuals and families facing food insecurity.

    WUMCO for expanded cold storage that will enable the collection of more donations from local farmers and hunters to distribute in the rural, Up-County area.

Food, Collaborations, & Infrastructure ($582,065)

When the pandemic first struck, many nonprofit and faith-based food distributors found they did not have access to the food and equipment needed to meet our community’s needs.  In response, the County’s Food Security Taskforce stood up a bulk buying partnership, leveraging the collective purchasing power of all the partners to obtain food at the best possible prices. The taskforce also partnered with the Healthcare Initiative Foundation,  Food Council, and Food for Montgomery make grants for trucks, refrigerators, freezers, and other equipment necessary to safely distribute the food.  In total, the Healthcare Initiative Foundation administered the $1 million in the County’s relief dollars and Food for Montgomery’s invested $100,600.67 to build the capacity of 28 food distribution partners.

Since then, Food for Montgomery has made even more strategic investments to help frontline partners to access food, build new collaborations, and obtain the tools necessary to safely distribute food while keeping staff, volunteers, and clients safe. These timely investments work in complement with public resources to enable our nonprofits and faith-based partners to serve more people and prevent food waste.

  • Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington, Inc.

    American Diversity Group

    American Muslim Senior Society

    Bethesda Cares

    Carribean Help Center, Inc

    Chinese Culture and Community Service Center, Inc.

    Clifton Park Baptist Church

    Damascus HELP Inc.

    Guru Gobind Singh Foundation

    Harvest Intercontinental Church

    Indonesian American Association

    Islamic Center of Maryland

    Kingdom Fellowship African Methodist Episcopal Church

    KINGS & PRIESTS COURT INT'L MINISTRIES INC.

    Liberty Grove United Methodist Church

    Manna Food Center

    Meals on Wheels of Takoma Park and Silver Spring

    Montgomery County Muslim Foundation

    Nourish Now Inc

    Rainbow Community 'Development Center

    Shepherd's Table

    Small Things Matter

    So What Else, Inc.

    Southern Bethany Baptist Church

    St Camillus Church Food Pantry

    The Living Legends Awards for Service to Humanity

    The Salvation Army

    UP 2 US FOUNDATION

    Vietnamese Americans Services, Inc

    Women Who Care Ministries

    Yad Yehuda

Farm to Food Bank ($268,988)

When the pandemic caused massive disruptions to the food supply chain last spring, many farmers across America plowed over their crops and threw away millions of pounds of food because they had no market to buy them.  That is why Food for Montgomery is investing in the Farm to Food Bank partnership led by the Manna Food Center, Montgomery County Food Council, and Montgomery County Department of Agriculture.  Our investment is supporting supported 22 farmers who provide vegetables, fruit, eggs, meat, and dairy to our nonprofit and faith-based food distributors.  In addition to meeting the needs today, these grants are helping small farms which are vital to our local economy and environment.

  • Alden Farms

    Amaranth Acres

    Beauty Blooms, LLC.

    Bella Vita Farm

    Bethel World Outreach Organic Farm

    Butler's Orchard

    Button Farm

    Cedar Ridge Community Church Farm

    Chicken of the Woods Farm

    Dodo Farm

    Eat the Rainbow Farm

    Lewis Orchards

    Love and Grit, LLC.

    Koiner Farm

    One Acre Farm

    Passion to Seed Gardening

    Purple Mountain Organics

    Red Wiggler Community Farm

    Sandy Spring Gardens

    Savage Acres Farm, Inc.

    Tanglewood Farm

    The Farm at Our House

Prepared Meal Partnerships ($345,000)

Recognizing that local restaurants, caterers, and food entrepreneurs are uniquely poised to help respond to the hunger crisis, Food for Montgomery is supporting partnerships between local nonprofits, faith-based food distributors, and food businesses to provide meals to isolated seniors, families in crisis, and people recovering from COVID-19.  

  • Restaurants, Caterers & Start-up Food Entrepreneurs that have provided prepared meals to people struggling with food insecurity during the pandemic:

    All Set

    Berman Hebrew Academy

    Brazilian Place

    Charlie’s Empanadas

    Cuba de Ayer

    Hung Phat Grocery

    Guru Groceries and Chaat House

    Green Plate Catering

    Holy Chow

    Indonesian & Asian Market

    Jalapeno Mexican Grill

    Keany Produce & Gourmet

    La Villa

    Los Chorros

    La Mexicana

    Mina’s Grill & Kabab

    Moti’s Market

    Mansa Kunda

    Papi’s Chicken & Grill

    Ridgewells Catering

    St. Veg

    Signature Catering

    Shalom Kosher Market

    Vitoria’s Restaurant

    Nonprofit partners leveraging their connections and volunteers to bring prepared meals and other supports to those in need:

    BlackRock Center for the Arts (Germantown Consolidation Hub)

    Crossroads Community Food Network

    Feed the Fridge

    Hughes United Methodist Church (Consolidation Hub)

    Interfaith Works (Consolidation Hub)

    Kingdom Fellowship (East County Consolidation Hub)

    Mary’s Center

    Rainbow Community Development Center (East County Consolidation Hub)

    Seneca Creek Church (Gaithersburg Consolidation Hub)

Outreach ($147,500)

With so many people facing food insecurity for the first time, it is imperative that we connect our neighbors to both emergency and long-term food resources.  Supporting nonprofits and grassroots community leaders that reflect the diverse population of Montgomery County, Food for Montgomery is helping food insecure neighbors connect to food resources and apply for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

  • SNAP sign-up assistance for residents and outreach training for nonprofit partners:

    Catholic Charities

    Maryland Hunger Solutions

    Multicultural Community Liaisons connecting isolated residents to food resources:

    Manna Food Center

    Co-Health

    Elite Soccer Youth Development Academy

    Identity

    Kings and Priests Court International

    South African Communities USA (SACU)

Plan and Build A Better Food Security System ($50,000)

The pandemic revealed gaps in our food security system but also showed what is possible when we partner effectively.  To move out of this crisis, we must engage people experiencing food insecurity as we seek to eliminate inefficiencies, equitably address the continued need, and make sure our system is prepared for future crises. Food for Montgomery’s investment in the Montgomery County Food Council is supporting their leadership of this important work.

The Work Ahead

Even though Montgomery County has officially reopened and vaccination rates are rising, the fact is there is no vaccination for hunger.  Even now, the pandemic continues to wreak havoc for thousands of people struggling without work, without childcare, and without certainty. 

We need to transition from emergency to recovery mode while still ensuring food insecure people can access enough nutritious food.  Equally important, we need to leverage the momentum to continue pushing for long-term transformational change that will create a more equitable and resilience food security system.

Our upcoming grants will help Food for Montgomery partners shift from emergency mode to services that enhance long-term food resilience.