2012 Domestic Hunger Grants Awarded
Each year, a portion of funds received through the ELCA World Hunger Appeal are set aside and used to fight domestic hunger. Some of this work is done through the awarding of Domestic Hunger Grants to ministries and partnerships in the various synods of this church engaged in hunger and poverty work. The Commission for Church in Society reviews these grant applications with the final decision for these awards being made by ELCA Churchwide staff. For 2012, seven grants totaling $13,500 were awarded to ministries within the territory of the synod. Recipients include:
- Children and Family Service of Iowa, Des Moines, to provide nutritious meals, sack lunches, snacks and food boxes to victims of domestic violence. ($2,000)
- Diversity Service Center of Iowa, Muscatine, to provide immigration assistance to families in order to become legal, productive citizens of the United States. ($1,500)
- Neighborhood Meal and Enrichment Program, Cedar Rapids, to provide warm, nutritious meals to children and their families during the summer months when meals through the public school system are not available. ($2,000)
- Arts in the City/Culinary Arts Studio, Des Moines, to assist under-served elementary students to become food secure and informed about good nutrition and to help their families by learning to prepare nutritional food while exploring cooking as a form of artistic expression. ($2,500)
- Schuyler County Ministerial Alliance/Food Room, Queen City, MO, to assist in making their new facility more user friendly as they effectively and efficiently distribute food and clothing to people living in poverty. ($1,000)
- Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Des Moines, to empower Latino immigrants to take action and create change on issues important to them in addressing the root causes of poverty. ($2,000)
- Anamosa Lunch for Youth (ALY), Anamosa, to provide to area needy and at-risk children sack lunches in the summer and weekend backpacks of nutritional, ready-to-eat foods during the school year. ($2,500)
Grant applications for projects for 2013 will be available sometime in May. Watch the synod’s E-News for more information regarding these dates. You can also visit the ELCA website www.elca.org/domestichungergrants to learn more about Domestic Hunger Grants and the application process.
