11/23/2022
๐๐ฆ๐ช๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐จ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐๐ก๐ฉ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ค๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ ๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐๐ก๐๐
$561,000 invested to make Schenectady more food secure
In this week with so much attention on gathering for a healthy meal, The Schenectady Foundation’s announcement of granting $561,000 to seven community organizations is especially appropriate.
“This second round of grants will build a healthier and more sustainable food system in our community,” said Robert Carreau, executive director of The Schenectady Foundation. “These grants bring our total investment in food security to $1.8 million since the start of the pandemic.”
This yearโs grant recipients are:
โข Cornell Cooperative Extension ~ $150,000 to support the second year of its Healthy Living 360 program, a collaborative project that brings together Schenectady Community Ministries, Schenectady ARC and the city school district to work directly with vulnerable families to get nutritious food into their homes.
โข The Food Pantries for the Capital District ~ $100,000 to continue to operate its Food Access Referral Line program that facilitates grocery deliveries to vulnerable residents. As of August 2022, 2,699 home deliveries had been made in Schenectady County.
โข Schenectady Community Ministries ~ $100,000 to support its โAccess, Solidarity and Impactโ project to collect data to better understand the impact its food access programs have on household stability and community health. Eventually this research will be used to develop long-term solutions in Schenectady.
โข Free Food Fridge Albany ~ $75,000 to expand its Schenectady footprint and set up additional refrigerators filled with produce, shelf stable food and other supplies.
โข The Schenectady Municipal Housing Authority ~ $51,000 to support the organizationโs Grocery Access Point Project to create food pantries at the Ten Eyck, Schonowee Village and Lincoln Heights public housing developments. These well-stocked pantries will serve 447 tenants, and be run by tenants where they can choose foods that best fit their dietary needs.
โข The City Mission of Schenectady ~ $50,000 for a new healthy food/agriculture program called Bridges to Wellness. In 2021, the Mission began growing lettuce for lower-income residents; the grant will enable the Mission to begin growing tomatoes, herbs, Swiss chard and other veggies in a local greenhouse.
โข The Schenectady Greenmarket ~ $35,000 to expand staffing for its food box program, which subsidizes the cost of produce from local farmers for low-income residents.
Natasha Pernicka, executive director of The Food Pantries of the Capital District, noted that more and more families are turning to food pantries to cope with rising costs of food, gas and heating costs while the additional assistance from the federal government sparked by the COVID pandemic has ended. The lack of transportation for many families is also a problem, one that is lessened by programs like the Grocery Access Point Project at the SMHA.
For more information about our efforts to reduce food insecurity and improve access to nutritious and culturally appropriate foods, contact Kristi Milligan, Director of Grants & Community Programs, at (518) 393-9500, or kmilligan@schenectadyfoundation.org.
๐๐ค๐ค๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ฉ:
Did you know there is one phone number to find out the latest details about all food pantries across the Capital Region? And it is the same number if you are quarantined or isolated due to COVID-19 and need a food delivery option. Call The Food Pantries of the Capital District (518) 458-1167 if you are looking for assistance or know someone who does.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด.
If you’d like to help create a community where every household is food secure, Click HERE.