OMAHA, NE / ACCESSWIRE / March 8, 2021 / The Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, an independent nonprofit evaluation and research institution, announced the start of the application period for its 2021 Rooted in Evidence Food Bank Grant and Evaluation Program today.
The grant program, created in 2019, funds eligible food banks working to support innovative and dynamic programming to improve the health and dietary quality of emergency food recipients. Non-profit 501(c)(3) food bank organizations or networks of food pantries in the U.S. are eligible to apply.
"The Rooted in Evidence Grant and Evaluation Program is ultimately focused on helping alleviate food insecurity among children and populations who are most in need," said Katie Stern, senior project manager at the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition. "Our founder and namesake, Gretchen Swanson, established our organization because she believed and advocated that ‘every child, every person has a right to good, healthy food.' With the expanded food needs of millions of households affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are eager to partner with grantees to deepen the impact, expand their resources and help in any way we can."
Feeding America estimates 17 million people in the U.S. could become food insecure due to the pandemic, bringing the total to more than 54 million people in the country, including 18 million children. Before COVID-19, food insecurity still impacted approximately 37 million people.
The Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition will select four food banks to receive $25,000 in grant funding per organization. Selected grantees also will receive an evaluation designed by Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition in collaboration with grantee staff and volunteers, an added benefit worth approximately $25,000 per grant.
Applicants for the grant program are encouraged to showcase unique and innovative programs and/or programs that have been restructured with an innovative twist. Unlike any other grant program, Rooted in Evidence provides visibility and measurable impact for programs that create lasting change within the food insecurity landscape.
"By providing food banks with the tools necessary to measure the impact of programs while simultaneously building capacity for measurement and evaluation, we see food bank programs begin to run more efficiently and better maximize time, talent and resources," said Dr. Amy Yaroch, executive director, Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition.
The measurement and evaluation for selected food banks includes training, technical assistance, guidance, measurement tool recommendation, data collection tools, analysis, interpretation of results, marketing expertise, communication resources and more. Learning sessions offered teach grantees strategies for developing survey and focus group design, qualitative and quantitative methods and more.
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle volunteers package quality, nutritious food for the Grocery Bags for Seniors program, which serves low-income seniors to help alleviate food insecurity and malnutrition risk.
Food Gatherers' Healthy School Pantry Program provides families with more fruits and vegetables and simple, low cost and nutritious recipes to prepare the distributed foods. Kitchen Kits sit in their warehouse, ready for distribution.
"I have never had in-depth training on how to do an evaluation. The entire process helped me learn more than the basics I had picked up along the way," said Laura Held, the nutrition resource manager for 2019-2020 grant recipient, Foodlink of Rochester, New York. "The Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition is so supportive. They help you the entire way through and get into the nitty-gritty of what to evaluate in your program - and how."
The application deadline is April 16 at 5 p.m. CT. To complete an application, visit https://www.centerfornutrition.org/s/2021-Rooted-in-Evidence-RFP.pdf. For more information about the grant, visit centerfornutrition.org/rootedinevidence.
About the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition
The Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition is an independent research institution providing scientific expertise, partnership and resources to improve diet and physical activity behaviors among youth and their families to help grow a healthier next generation. It is the only center of its kind with expertise in the measurement and evaluation of nutrition-related programs.
CONTACT:
Danelle Myer
dmyer@centerfornutrition.org
SOURCE: Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition
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