2 Newport Organizations Share $40k In Grants From RI Foundation

NEWPORT, RI — Two food banks serving the city of Newport will share $40,000 in in special grants from the Rhode Island Foundation, the organization announced on Friday. The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center and The East Bay Community Action Program will share the grant funding.

"While we continue to pursue long-term solutions to poverty, we also support these organizations in providing immediate and critical assistance to struggling Rhode Islanders," Rhode Island Foundation President Neil D. Steinberg said.

The R.I. Community Food Bank reported that residents in need have missed more than 11 million meals in their 2019 Report on Hunger.

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center received $25,000, which will be used to stock the organization's mobile food pantry with enough food to provide twice-weekly visits to low income housing complexes for three months. The mobile food pantry, launched in 2018, aims to make healthy food more accessible to low-income individuals by bringing food, personal care and household items to housing complexes across Newport County, in places where transportation is often inaccessible.

"With the costs of living in Newport County on the rise, it is more important now than ever to provide innovative solutions to hunger," said Heather Hole Strout, the organization's executive director. "We are committed to not only meeting the basic needs of the community, but providing the means for a long-term healthy lifestyle change."

The remaining $15,000 was awarded to The East Bay Community Action Program, which operates food banks in Newport and East Providence, providing assistance to more than 5,000 households every year.

"This support comes at a critical time for our busy food banks," Dennis Roy, the organization's president, said. "They are often the first place that new clients come to our agency for services. We will be able to assist families with nutritious food and work with them to determine if they are eligible for additional program supports such as food stamps or heating assistance."

The grants are part of $180,000 in emergency grants awarded by the foundation to seven organizations around the state that provide food to low-income Rhode Islanders. Other recipients were Comprehensive Community Action Program in Cranston, Connecting Children & Families in Woonsocket, the Jonnycake Center for Hope in South Kingstown, the Jonnycake Center of Westerly and the R.I. Community Food Bank.