Food for Thought – Adding Grant Writers Helps Yolo County Secure Funds for Farmers Market

What kid will pass up a free meal, paid for with play money to “purchase” eight pounds of produce at a farmer’s market program?  The program preaches health and nutrition to low-income preschool and elementary school student populations across Yolo County, in California.

The free weekly Kids Farmer’s Market, hosted by the Yolo Food Bank and supported, in part, by a grant from the Walmart Foundation, has helped to distribute more than 224,000 pounds of fresh fruits, vegetables, rice and beans to county children, at least 70 percent of whom are eligible for free and reduced-priced school meals.

Now, to broaden the nonprofit’s ability to serve and enhance the common good of the community, the Yolo Food Bank is adding two grant writers to the organizational staff. Grant writers Cristina Larsen and Maggie Memmott each bring diverse skills – namely writing, research, project management, program evaluation and budgeting – to their new roles with the food bank. Both will be tasked with conveying to potential donors how poverty and homelessness affect individual health and the reverberating impact malnutrition has throughout the community.

Writing proposals is a big part of any fundraising campaign, said Libby Hikind, founder and CEO of GrantWatch and GrantWriterTeam. The more work put into each proposal, the better chance a request has to secure funding. But, not all nonprofits, entrepreneurs or small businesses can add a full-time grant writer to staff, much less two like Yolo Food Bank. Without the human resources or time to dedicate to grant writing, many of these fund-seekers turn to GrantWriterTeam.com to request an experienced grant writer to help with proposals.

GrantWriterTeam receives a high number of requests from organizations that seek qualified grant writers who will know how to communicate a message to different audiences; research funding opportunities; and build and maintain relationships with funding sources. Hiring a grant writer is simple. Click the Request a Grant Writer tab at GrantWriterTeam and answer a few short questions.  GrantWriterTeam will keep your organization anonymous until you choose the grant writer you want to work with. The goal of the grant writer is to gauge the potential impact an organization will have along with strategies to promote future growth.

According to the USDA, more than 42 million people nationwide are food-insecure, which means that they may not know where they will find their next meal. In Yolo County, 31,000 residents in 19,000 households are food-insecure.

In the past, grant writers have crafted successful proposals for the Yolo Food Bank that have been used to purchase equipment needed to handle fresh food, including refrigerated vehicles; coolers and freezers for transporting, storing and distributing food; and thermometers and temperature calibration devices. To their credit, effective grant writers helped the Yolo Food Bank and its 70 partner agencies secure funds in the pursuit of ending hunger and malnutrition in the county, where one-in-seven people including 10,000 children struggle to access nutrition-rich food.

Grant writers who can help secure funds for projects from public and private foundations, government sources and corporations are always in high demand. Those who already possess a proven track record of grant writing, research, planning and budgeting combined with persistency and organization are encouraged to join the GrantWriterTeam.

Grant writers from all backgrounds who have the talent to craft a compelling grant proposal should sign-up on GrantWriterTeam.com, a service of GrantWatch.com. Joining GrantWriterTeam is easy. Create a profile, fill out the application and begin to bid on grant writing jobs.

About the Author: Staff Writer for GrantWatch

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