Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County is now competing in A Community Thrives, part of the USA Today Network, a fundraising program on CrowdRise by GoFundMe. A Community Thrives is a nationwide program that is focused on helping organizations by shining a national spotlight on their community building initiatives. CCE-Monroe has the opportunity to be awarded up to $1 million in available project-based grants to help fund Harvesting Health: A Garden & Nutrition Approach to Community Building.
The combination of high poverty rates and low access to food in the City of Rochester produces a food insecure community, in which it is difficult for families to both afford and access an adequate supply of nutritious food. This should not be in a city geographically situated near numerous local farms and home to the Rochester Public Market. The “Harvesting Health: A Garden & Nutrition Approach to Community Building” project seeks to support families by providing the tools necessary to support healthy eating on a budget. Using a World Community Café model, adults and youth living in the City of Rochester will engage in an eight-week gardening and nutrition program where they will learn gardening skills, meal planning, and food preparation skills to support healthy living. Curriculum used for this project include: Seed to Supper and Cooking Matters for Chefs and Kids! This eight-week program will be duplicated throughout the City of Rochester as part of the overall project to address issues of food insecurity and promote community building. Youth from Cooking Matters for Chefs and Kids! will pair with adults from Seed to Supper to enjoy the food they create and address the social-emotional well-being of children and families. The two-generational approach of the World Community Café combines parent and child educational experiences to bring families together and interrupt the cycle of food insecurity. This approach emphasizes education, nutrition, social engagement, and health and well-being to create a legacy of food security that passes from one generation to the next.
A Community Thrives launched on CrowdRise by GoFundMe on Monday, March 18, and will continue through Friday, April 12, at 11:59:59 a.m. The organizations in tier one and tier two that raise the most during the program will each be awarded a $25,000 grant, second place organizations will each be awarded a $15,000 grant and third place organizations will each be awarded a $10,000 grant. Weekly bonus challenges enable organizations to be awarded up to $50,000 in grants in each tier. At the end of the crowdfunding period, an additional 16 grants totaling $800,000 will be awarded to participating organizations. Plus, qualifying organizations that provide services in USA Today Network’s newspaper markets may be eligible to receive an additional operating grant from a $1,300,000 fund.
To help CCE-Monroe be awarded A Community Thrives grant, visit https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/cooperative-extension-association-in-the-state-of-ny-monroe-county-new-york
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