Grant Application for
Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities
Mission Statement:
Fiscal agent if applicant is not tax exempt:
Tax ID Number:
38-2314954
Contact First Name:
Contact Last Name:
Jen
Schaap
Address:
313 Howard St, Unit B, Petoskey, MI 49770
Email:
Phone Number:
231-941-6584 x708
Website:
Project Name:
Groundwork Hosts FoodCorps in Pellston and Alanson Public Schools
Project start and end dates:
August 3, 2020
July 15, 2021
Amount Requested:
$
3974
Project Description:
In 2020-2021, Groundwork will expand FoodCorps in Emmet and Charlevoix counties from public schools in Pellston and Boyne Falls to Alanson and East Jordan to build cultures of health. FoodCorps educates about food & farming in classrooms, conducts fresh tastings in cafeterias, and grows school gardens. Results show that with community, food-related material in classrooms and cafeteria (the 3 Cs), students set up good habits for a lifetime, and learn the importance of nutrition and the self-sufficiency of cooking and growing their own food.
Students in these schools are at risk of disease from unhealthy diets, and high high rates of economic disadvantage: 83%+ of students in Pellston schools and 69% in Alanson schools are eligible for free/reduced lunch. Area food sources are limited to gas stations and fast-food restaurants. Students receive up to ⅔ of their meals at school, so nutrient dense food at school for breakfast and lunch is imperative to health.
Goal of the Project
How many people will you reach?
580
What percentage are female?
78
If your program serves both males and females, how will Hestia funds specifically target women and girls?
All Petoskey FoodCorps alumni, and recent interviewees, are women. The program cultivates young women as leaders, who then can inspire girls in schools to pursue STEM topics like science through farming, and nutritional science. Rural women are even more underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics professions. Petoskey’s first member now works at the local land conservancy. Our current member is incredibly talented and plans to stay in Petoskey after service. Our Food and Farming team’s director is a FoodCorps alumni, and now leads 7 women. Pellston and Alanson school food service is also 100% women
Requested funds support:
Classroom/garden supplies $274
Half of required computer $1,000
Travel to Pellston $700
Fraction of required supervision $1,360 - GW staff must hold weekly check-ins and is required to attend FoodCorps trainings
Service member training $640 - conferences and non-profit events
The supervisor maintains a thread of continuity as service members shift during the recommended 3-5 year partnership with FoodCorps and the school (service is 1-2 years), and initiates critical relationships that build the schoolwide culture of health, and beyond, into pantries and in support of local farms
How are recipients identified or selected to receive services? Is financial need considered?
Yes, financial need is required. Only schools that are 50% or more free/reduced lunch rate are eligible for FoodCorps. Pellston, Alanson, Boyne Falls, and East Jordan schools all exceed that mark. However, because Groundwork has an office dedicated to Emmet, Charlevoix, and Antrim counties, we are able to also share resources to non-eligible schools that are ready to implement food and garden education, tastings, and garden support into their programs. Knowing that all students deserve to eat nutritious food, our Local Food Policy Specialist in the Petoskey office helps to foster relationships and changes in schools outside of FoodCorps’ eligibility. There are students in need in all schools.
Documented free/reduced lunch counts for each school are as follows (many eligible families do not fill out the forms and administrators at each school say there are more than this):
Boyne Falls - 69%
Pellston - 83%
East Jordan - 57%
Alanson - 69%
What do you hope to achieve? What difference will this make in the lives of women and girls?
How will this project meet Hestia's mission statement?
FoodCorps’ on-the-ground approach to service, plus our 15+ years of systems change work, showcases self-sufficiency by strengthening connections between students and farms, promotes access to healthy food in pantries, and builds a model of health.
Education and direct involvement in this limited resource area is critical in creating life-changing habits. Through gardening, nutrition, and cooking, girls gain skills to improve health, avoid hunger, and remain resilient. 60+% of chronically hungry people are female. Women, on the frontlines of the struggle for food, land, water, and economic justice, produce ~70% of food consumed, keep seeds and knowledge that produce food, repair soil and cool the planet. We see rural women/girls respond enthusiastically to activities that familiarize them with local food preparation. On Bring a Farmer to School Day, strong farmers like Mary Rapin and Cathy Strojny model self-sufficiency and help girls see potential in themselves.
After 3-5 years, a new school culture of health shows reduced sugar and fat, fruit salads over birthday cakes, high-quality, from-scratch entrees, and vibrant salad bars. We aim to incorporate this approach throughout the school, and hold it up as a rural model.
How will you evaluate or measure your success:
FoodCorps service members complete a weekly survey created by America Learns, which tracks data including the number of tastings and volunteers involved in school activities, time spent in classrooms and gardens, and more.
The Healthy School Progress Report measures a school’s progress each year. The Vegetable Preference Survey measures a particular set of students and the data showing changes in their preferences over the course of the year.
Anecdotally, when we see food made from scratch, like soups, and salad bar options that include local product, we know the school is moving toward success. We also know through taste tests conducted in the classroom how the students’ responses change positively over time, and how that affects their requests to the food service staff.
Grant Project Budget Form
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