Healthy Food Fund grants

At Haymarket, in downtown Boston.

— Photo by Daniel Brody

From the New England Council

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care recently announced its 2019 Healthy Food Fund Grant Guidelines and RFP. The grants will be awarded to 25 local nonprofit organizations throughout Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire in efforts to support the growth and distribution of free produce to low-income families and older adults.

Evidence of the fund’s widespread impact is reflected in the data: since 2016, 25 organizations supported by Harvard Pilgrim’s Healthy Food Fund increased their distribution by 116 percent to nearly 1.8 million pounds of fresh produce. In the coming year, $625,000 worth of grants will be awarded to volunteer-powered food access programs that focus on people in rural, low-income, and/or communities of color.

Michael Devlin, Director of Grants & Initiatives for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation, said, “By mobilizing the energy of local and corporate volunteers to grow, glean and distribute healthy produce for low-income families across our region, we want to create a movement of ‘neighbors feeding neighbors’ and expand the number of citizens advocating for fresh, local, healthy food equity.”