With so many in need across North America, today we announced over $1 million in COVID-19 relief grants, bringing our total contributions to over $8 million in food and financial support to organizations in our hometowns.
In March, we made an initial commitment to support local organizations as they manage both the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. To continue that commitment, today we’re proud to announce that the Campbell Soup Foundation has made contributions to several national partners through strategic COVID-19 support grants, and to over 40 deserving organizations in our hometowns through community recovery grants.
Strategic COVID-19 support
The Campbell Soup Foundation recently granted a total of $415,000 to three organizations as part of our strategic COVID-19 support: Active Schools, Girls on the Run International, and National Farm to School Network. These grants were made to national and regional partners with the scale to make a large impact on relief efforts across our Campbell communities.
Read how they’re making a difference:
Active Schools: Creating active school environments
Active Schools is a national organization that works with families and schools to create active school environments where kids participate in at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day. They are providing leadership and assistance to schools to ensure that school physical education continues in an accessible and effective manner during COVID-19, and that families and students get the support they need for learning at home and in school.
Our contribution will provide professional development, technical assistance and research to ensure that students in our Charlotte, N.C., Lakeland, Florida, and Tualatin, Oregon, communities are receiving safe and effective physical education through online, hybrid, and in-person formats during COVID-19 and beyond.
Girls on the Run International: Inspiring girls to be joyful, healthy, and confident
Supporting our Foundation focus on encouraging healthy living, Girls on the Run International (GOTRI) envisions a world where every girl knows and activates her potential by maintaining physical and mental health. Our donation will support general operations at the national and council-level to ensure that adolescent girls across the country and within Campbell communities continue to have opportunities to participate in Girls on the Run programming. Funds will provide financial support for participants who couldn’t otherwise afford the program and will allow the organization to continue to develop new delivery models, such as a Girls on the Run activity kit that allows girls to complete the program from home on their own time.
National Farm to School Network: Increasing access to local food and nutrition and agriculture education
In our Camden, N.J. and Charlotte, N.C. communities, National Farm to School Network (NFSN) is on a mission to increase access to local food, gardens, and nutrition/agriculture education to improve children’s health, strengthen family farms, and create vibrant communities.
Through our support, NFSN will form and lead working groups with key participants from Charlotte and Camden to identify community needs and determine strategies to strengthen community-based food systems for long-term security and resiliency. The result will be action plans to address challenges to healthy food access, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Student from National Farm to School Program
COVID-19 Community Recovery Grants
Open to our 33 Campbell communities, we created a fund where organizations across our footprint can apply to receive COVID-19 relief grants up to $25,000 each. The fund is open to organizations whose work supports The Campbell Soup Foundation’s mission and focus areas. We began accepting applications for these grants earlier this fall, and we’re excited to announce the first round of recipients, totaling $892,500 across 42 organizations.
The 42 organizations represent 30 of our 33 Campbell communities across North America. The funds will be used for relief and recovery efforts, like providing food to meet increased demand, technology to support virtual programming, salaries for additional staff, and PPE and cleaning supplies.
The grants went to the following organizations in our hometown communities:
Volunteers from Salem Harvest in Oregon
Learn more about how we’ve supported our communities throughout the pandemic.
Header image courtesy of Girls on the Run International.
