Written By: Tyler Herman, Director of Partner Engagement
Over the last six years, the Food Bank, with the support of our generous donors, has been investing in the resilience and capacity of our partners through our Agency Capacity Fund. Through this Fund, we aim to help partners source the equipment and materials they need to strengthen their mission and better serve their guests. All partners are invited to submit grant requests each year. To date, more than $2.7 million worth of equipment and awards has been distributed.
The overarching goal of the Fund is to help our partners source the equipment and materials they need to strengthen their mission, reach underserved populations, and better serve their guests.
Agency Capacity Fund grants help pantries make needed changes and improvements to strengthen their missions, reach more people, and better serve guests. Offerings include things like cold storage (shown above, Verona Community Food Pantry) and community garden projects (shown below, Virginia Cooperative Extension).
What impact is the Fund making?
Most of the organizations we partner with are volunteer-led and -run and operate within a limited budget. In fact, nearly 58% of our partners rely on five or fewer sources of funding to fuel their mission.
This can often translate into having the resources needed to meet the moment, but with little funding left to upgrade or replace equipment and expand and enhance their services.
The Agency Capacity Fund is a testament to the adage that we’re stronger together. By leveraging the Food Bank’s size, scale, reach, and resources, we’re able to provide the equipment and tools our partners need to:
- make physical spaces more welcoming to preserve and uplift the dignity of their guests
- source more nutritious food, including perishables, meats, and dairy products that meet the unique dietary and cultural food preferences of guests
- improve operational efficiencies and make distributions easier to manage
- support the rollout of software called Link2Feed to standardize intake processes
- start and expand delivery models to better meet the needs of homebound seniors and individuals with disabilities
- grow and enhance food assistance services to reflect the unique needs of their community
- build strength, resiliency, capability, and capacity to prepare for and weather future economic shocks that increase the demand for food-assistance services
So how does the grant process work?
Each spring, the Food Bank invites all 200+ partner agencies and 180+ nutrition program partners to submit grant requests through the Agency Capacity Fund. Proposals are vetted through a competitive application and review process by the Food Bank’s staff and Board.
Between 2016 and 2019, the Food Bank focused on investing in items like cold and dry storage, carts, pallet jacks, and technology. When the pandemic hit, the needs shifted, and so too did our scope. We expanded our offerings to include items like:
- refrigerated vans and vehicles
- funding to start and expand community gardens (talk about growing the solution!)
- helping faith-based organizations transition to become 501(c)3 non-profit organizations
- funding for developing strategic plans
- supporting staff/volunteer training and development
We’ve just wrapped up our review of the 2022 Agency Capacity Fund applications and are finalizing recommendations with our Board in mid-May. On the right is a breakdown of all the requests submitted this year.
The Food Bank’s grant recommendations will be finalized and shared with our partners at the end of May. Soon after, the equipment, tools, training, and resources will start to roll out to seed additional impact for years to come.
Thank you for your engagement and support
I continue to believe that the Agency Capacity Fund is one of the most important and impactful things that the Food Bank does to support our partners’ growth and enhancement of services.
If you’re a partner organization who has previously benefitted from an Agency Capacity Fund grant, I hope you know how much we value your participation, and the time and thoughtfulness you put into your requests. We’re always excited to see what you are dreaming up, and to play a part in helping to bring those dreams and vision to life to better serve your guests.
I want to hear from you!
If you’re a partner who hasn’t requested an Agency Capacity Fund grant before, I want to hear from you on how we can improve the process to better meet your needs. Our goal for 2023 is to determine how we can make this a more equitable process, so all feedback is welcome. Please contact me at therman@brafb.org to share your voice.
Tyler Herman
