Last week, Cortez nonprofit Onward! A Legacy Foundation awarded $326,000 in state funding to 70 food pantries and food banks across Colorado.
The money was provided through the Food Pantry Assistance Grant, an initiative by Hunger Free Colorado, which aims to increase access to healthy foods for all Coloradans. Onward! served as the fiscal agent for this grant, and was able to provide 70 of the 75 grant applicants.
“Onward! keeps growing,” said Chuck Forth, executive director of the nonprofit. This was the first cycle of grant distribution.
Locally, the Good Samaritan Center and Mancos FoodShare submitted a joint application and received a total of $6,500.
Hunger Free Colorado secured the grant money during the 2018 legislative session, aiming to support food pantries in addition to local farmers and the state economy. Grant funds can only be used to purchase items identified by the Colorado Department of Agriculture as “Colorado Proud” products, although 10 percent can be used for indirect costs associated with these purchases, like transportation, refrigeration, and storage.
Onward! received 75 applications, for a total $1.6M in requests, competing for an available $500,000. They awarded 70 of the 75 with applicants with the $326,000.
Also in the Four Corners region, awardees included the Aspen Springs Food Pantry in Pagosa Springs, Manna Soup Kitchen in Durango, Durango Food Bank and the Garden Project of Southwestern Colorado in Durango.
The remaining portion of the $500,000 in funding will be disbursed in the second cycle, which opens Feb. 1 to eligible food pantries and banks. For more information, visit onwardfoundation.org.
ealvero@the-journal.com