Now that the fiscal year has closed, we took an opportunity to reflect on how far our grant-making programs have come. In our FY2021–2022 review, we saw a significant increase in the number of funding requests.

In FY2020–2021, grant requests totaled just over $1.6 million. In FY2021–2022, requests rose to $2.4 million! We received 126 requests across six grant programs. Clearly, word has spread about our grant-making programs.

This year, we were also excited to add the North Central Massachusetts Racial Equity Grant Program, which is focused on advancing racial justice and equity in the region by providing grants to nonprofit organizations that serve and empower communities of color and address systemic and institutional racism.

In addition, we had a tremendous opportunity to leverage COVID-19 relief funds from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Through these programs, we put nearly $1.4 million into the community, providing financial assistance to those impacted by COVID and strengthening our food system. We look forward to sharing more about the impacts in the coming months.