For Partners & Providers

Grant Opportunities

Overview

Project Bread offers a variety of funding opportunities for anti-hunger organizations and food assistance providers in Massachusetts throughout the year to further our shared mission. We also share relevant grant opportunities from external organizations to further assist our child nutrition partners.

Check back for opportunities, as this page is updated regularly.

Current Funding Opportunities

Funding and grant opportunities from Project Bread.

Before joining The Commonwealth for The Walk for Hunger 2023, Project Bread must verify your eligiblity.

Submit the 2025 Enrollment form by April 15, 2025.

  • Review of this form will take about a week.
  • Please do not form your team until you are verified and receive your confirmation email welcoming you to The Commonwealth for 2025.

 

Overview

The Commonwealth is a fundraising share program that invites our community anti-hunger partners to leverage The Walk for Hunger to directly raise funds for your own anti-hunger work.

The Walk for Hunger is May 4, 2025.

There will be an in-person 3-mile Walk around Boston Common. You do not need to join us on Boston Common, you have the option to select "Walk Your Own Way" and participate whenever from wherever!

 

About The Commonwealth

Eligible organizations are invited to join The Commonwealth to directly raise funds for their own anti-hunger work, by forming a single Walk for Hunger team to represent the organization and retaining 60% of funds raised with the remaining 40% of funds raised applied to the statewide effort and cost of the event.

Teams in The Commonwealth must meet a minimum fundraising threshold of $500 to qualify for the 60/40 split.

Once met, the total amount raised by the team will be allocated to the 60/40 split, excluding registration fees.

Who is Eligible?

All non-profit programs making healthy food more accessible and/or affordable to low-income people in Massachusetts are eligible to participate in The Commonwealth.

Examples include:

  • School-based food pantries
  • Back-pack programs
  • School gardens
  • Food pantries
  • Meal programs
  • Multi-service centers' food resource programming
  • Food rescue
  • Farm and garden programs

Use of Funds

Funds should be used by anti-hunger efforts only. This can include general operating for anti-hunger programs.

Eligible use of funds:

School teams, health centers, etc... raising money for:

  • On-site food pantries
  • Micro-pantries
  • Back-pack programs
  • School gardens
  • School breakfast equipment
  • Summer Eats equipment
  • Double-bucks programs at farmers markets, corner stores, etc.

Funding exemptions 

Nutrition education and federally-reimbursable food costs

Deadlines

All organizations and programs wishing to participate and form teams in The Commonwealth must submit the enrollment form using our grant portal by April 15, 2025.

This is to verify eligibility. (even returning teams!)

** Please wait to have your team members register for The Walk until after you are verified and invited to form a team. Once your team is formed, they can "Join a Team" and search for your team name when they register.

After April 15, 2025 enrollment in The Commonwealth in 2022 is on a case by case basis.

  • All donations must be received by Project Bread, by June 30, 2025 to be eligible for the 60/40 split.
    • Donations received after this date will contribute to the statewide effort.
    • Teams must reach a $500 fundraising threshold by June 30 2025 for their fundraising to be eligible for the 60/40 split. Once you meet that threshold, all the funds you raise are eligible for the split (including the first $500). If your Team does not meet the $500 threshold by June 30, 2025, funds raised by your Team will support the statewide effort.
    • Funds raised by teams participating in The Commonwealth in 2025 will be released to their organization by September 30, 2025.

Questions? Please contact Marisa Rafal at marisa_rafal@projectbread.org

For more details, visit The Commonwealth webpage 

Project Bread is excited to offer a funding opportunity for SFSP sponsors who will operate OPEN sites in Summer 2025 again this year!

Purpose:

To support efforts to expand participation in Summer Eats in Massachusetts. Examples of participation expansion projects include:

  • New open site locations that serve a population previously unserved or underserved by Summer Eats.

  • Initiatives focused on bringing meals to neighborhoods to expand access within the community.

  • Initiatives to significantly expand meal access at existing sites through structural changes that will allow the site to serve more meals.

  • Initiatives specifically designed to advance equity and inclusion in your community, as related to your Summer Eats program.

  • Initiatives specifically focused on improving the appeal of congregate meal sites to create vibrant, popular, and welcoming environments.

Eligibility:

  • Any new* or existing Summer Food Service Program sponsor operating open sites in Massachusetts. (*If you apply to become a new sponsor through DESE for summer 2025, you are eligible for this grant.)

  • Sponsors must commit to operating one or more open sites to be eligible. Sponsors that operate solely closed sites are not eligible for the grant program.

  • While individual sites are not eligible to apply, we strongly encourage sponsors to work with current and potential sites to develop grant proposals that best meet the needs of their communities.

Timeline:

  • The deadline to apply is Monday, March 24th.

  • If you have any questions, reach out to cnop@projectbread.org or

    617-239-2543.

How to apply: 

  1. Review our grant overview
  2. Review our guide for accessing our NEW PORTAL
  3. Use this link to apply by 3/24. 

Additional Opportunities

Funding and grant opportunities from external organizations.

Good food is a basic right®

While our work is focused in Massachusetts, our models lay the groundwork to end hunger for everyone, everywhere, forever. We get closer to our goal every day – but we need people like you to help us achieve lasting change.

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Project Bread Funding Opportunities

Apply for Funding

Applications for Project Bread funding oportunities are submitted and reviewed in our Online Community Grant Portal. If you have never requested funding from Project Bread using this portal, you will need to set up an account as a "New Applicant." Before applying, please carefully read the instructions below:

How to start a new application

  1. Review the funding opportunities and follow the link provided to the onilne grant application. 
  2. New to Project Bread's Online Community Grant Portal? Set up an account as a "New Applicant" or login using your credentials. 
  3. Complete and submit or use the "Save and Finish Later" feature, You can return to your application at any time to complete it, following the below instructions. 

How to return to a saved application

  1. Do not go back to the application link in the accordions, this will start a new application. 
  2. Go to My Account Page to access your previously started application. 
  3. Don't see the application you started? On the right-hand side of the screen, a drop-down menu says "Show". Select "In Progress Applications" from the drop-down menu (not "Submitted Applications"). 

Partner Resources

Grant Writing Resources

Leverage The Walk for Hunger to Fund Your Work

Learn about our 60/40 fundraising split for anti-hunger partners, "The Commonwealth", and how to form a fundraising team for The Walk for Hunger to fund your own work.

Learn More