The Health Forward Foundation has awarded $3.4 million in grants to 36 Kansas City-area nonprofits.
The foundation said in a press release that the organizations receiving funding as part of its Healthy Communities Grant promote healthy eating and active living through "policies, systems and environmental change."
Among the organizations is Kanbe's Markets, which will receive a $102,816 grant. Maxfield Kaniger, founder and CEO, said his nonprofit works to address food insecurity in many neighborhoods by providing fruits and vegetables for businesses like Anchor Island Coffee on Troost Avenue.
"The reality right now is it takes an average of about 45 minutes to get to a grocery store in most of the neighborhoods we're working in," Kaniger said.
Cultivate KC will receive $100,000. Executive Director Brien Darby said that money will train and support farmers in their refugee farm training program.
"Those farmers are on site with us for four years," Darby said. "They incubate their business while they're there. They get to share the land, the tools, the water, the greenhouse space – and then probably the biggest add in is that they are getting to sell all their produce to this joint-distribution system that we manage as well."
BikeWalkKC will see $75,000 from the grant. Michael Kelley, the organization's policy director, said there are connections between transportation and access to fresh, healthy food.
"We know that historically, having access to healthy food, and access to affordable, safe alternative modes of transportation has always been a problem for certain parts of the community," Kelley said. "So being able to specifically advocate for policies and support efforts to change that and make that more widely available, is a really key part of what ties our work together, not just between our organizations, but with the Health Forward Foundation's broader goals around improving racial equity."
The full list of recipients can be found on the Health Forward Foundation website.
