“This is an opportunity for our students to provide more for their families, for our students who may not have access to the resources that others do. It’s a blessing for the students who need that support.” Randall Ward, Director of Student Services, Capital Community College in Hartford
Review the grant program guidelines below or download a copy.
Due to the high volume of grant requests received, we have extended the review period. Grant awards will be announced on March 3, 2023. Thank you for participating in this program!
FY23 Community Impact Grant Program Overview
Connecticut Foodshare is pleased to release this grant funding opportunity to support food assistance programs in its network. This grant program launches as a key part of the Connecticut Foodshare 2022-2025 Community Impact Plan to increase food access and transform the client experience. This grant opportunity is open to any food pantry, backpack program, community meal program (soup kitchen), or emergency shelter that has an active account in good standing with Connecticut Foodshare.
Grant Goals
With this grant program, Connecticut Foodshare will make an unprecedented investment in its network partners to strengthen and transform food access across the state. The goal of this grant opportunity is to build the capacity of your food assistance program to meet the needs of your community through projects that address one or more of the following areas:
Strengthen program operations, such as equipment to allow for more effective, efficient, and safe transport, storage, and distribution of food.
Expand food access, particularly to more fresh, nutritious and/or culturally preferred foods, such as through added cold storage, expanded hours of operation, and/or new ways of distributing food.
Improve the experience of obtaining food assistance to be more convenient, dignified, and supportive, such as increasing awareness about your program, expanding client choice, connecting clients to other resources, and/or creating a welcoming environment.
This is an opportunity for you to dream big, innovate and consider projects that will meaningfully enhance or transform the way you serve the community.
Eligible Requests
Connecticut Foodshare has allocated $1.5 million to this grant program. Eligible applicants are invited to request any amount of grant funding for projects they can complete within the grant term, ending December 31, 2023.
Grant requests must support your food assistance program and show clear alignment with one or more of the grant goals.
Limit of one grant request per partner program account. Organizations with multiple accounts with Connecticut Foodshare may submit one proposal for each eligible partner program account.
For projects with components that will require ongoing investment beyond this capacity grant (such as staffing), the grant narrative must include how you plan to sustain those costs once the grant funds have been expended
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
See Examples of Pantry Transformation
The Connecticut Foodshare Institute for Hunger Research and Solutions provided grants to several partner agencies to help them reinvent and transform their services for neighbors. Read the report on the Transformation grants.
Important! Applications requesting funding for commercial size cold storage unit(s) must upload a quote from an electrician and/or plumber for installation costs and confirm that your facility can accommodate the equipment. Please be sure to include the cost of installation in your request.
View our Grant Application Guide with project examples here
Our team is available to brainstorm with you. Contact your Network Relations Representative to discuss your ideas.
Scoring Rubric
Applications will be assessed by a committee on a scale of 1 (does not meet criteria) to 5 (excellent alignment with criteria) according to the following metrics. The numbers next to each area (x50, x20, x10) indicate the weight each response will have in the grant review process, as outlined in the grid below.
Alignment (x50): How well does the proposal help the partner achieve the goals of the grant program?
Impact (x20): How significant will the impact be for the program and people served, in terms of quality and/or quantity of services offered? Can the program measure the impact of the proposed project?
Community Need (x20): How have the needs of the community and/or client feedback informed the proposed project(s)?
Community Partnerships & Collaborations (x10): Does the proposal provide opportunities for maximizing community impact via community partnerships and collaborations?
