Community Support Helps Land Green Beverly $25K Grant

BEVERLY, MA — Green Beverly will benefit from a $25,000 State Farm earned through the help of some serious community support.

The nonprofit, which looks to repurpose food that would otherwise go to waste for those in need through its food-diversion project, was one of 200 finalists for the State Farm Neighborhood Grants. The finalists were then tasked with mobilizing support for their cause through a voting system where the top 100 would receive grants.

More than two million votes were cast with Green Beverly being one of the top vote-getters.

"Over one-third of all food in the United States is wasted, responsible for at least 200 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year," Green Beverly Executive Director Dean Berg said. "Meanwhile, over a third of our neighbors at or below the poverty line experience food insecurity.

"This project will put high-quality food that would otherwise be wasted into the hands of our excellent meal program partners, fighting hunger and climate change at the same time. The entire Beverly community thanks State Farm for this extraordinary recognition and support."

The mission of Green Beverly is to help all residents lead more sustainable lives through actionable information and inspiration. By collecting excess, edible food from local restaurants, supermarkets and farms, the organization provides underserved Beverly neighbors with fresh, nutritious food.

These efforts also help to reduce the community's environmental footprint by diverting excess food from the waste stream.

The $25,000 Neighborhood Assist grant will allow Green Beverly to hire staff and rent the transportation needed to bring food to people in need.

The full list of winners can be found here.

Over the past 11 years, State Farm has donated $12.5 million to nearly 500 causes through the State Farm Neighborhood Grants.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)