Grants That Make a Difference
Every month, "Grants that Make a Difference" highlights grants given to Washington, DC area organizations that have helped make a difference in people's lives. "Grants That Make a Difference" profiles these important community success stories.
January 1, 2006
Grant amount: $25,000
Who got the grant:
Brainfood
1525 Newton Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20010
Phone: 202/667-5515
Fax: 202/667-92024
E-mail: info@brain-food.org
Web site: http://www.brain-food.org/
Who gave the grant:
Jacob and Charlotte Lehrman Foundation
1027 33rd Street, N.W., 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20007
Phone: 202/338-8400
Fax: 202/338-8405
E-mail: info@lehrmanfoundation.org
Web site: http://www.lehrmanfoundation.org
Impact:
Brainfood programs are designed to engage teens in exciting and educational food-focused activities – and keep them engaged.
The nonprofit's after-school programs provide a comprehensive framework in which motivated teens can develop important life skills
and put them to the test in the real world.
Brainfood, founded in 1999, provides hands-on culinary instruction, field trips, group learning activities,
leadership development, and community service opportunities four afternoons a week, year-round to low-income DC public high school students.
Programs take place at its main site as well as at Cardozo High School.
Currently, Brainfood works with 72 teens from 4 DC public high schools. Current participants were
selected from more than 450 applicants, based on their interest in learning new skills, sense of adventure, eagerness to improve
their community, and love of food. Brainfood participants gain self-esteem and a real sense of empowerment and control over their circumstances and community.
Brainfood programs allow kids to be kids, while also challenging them to develop new skills and expand their aspirations. The nonprofit
is a safe place for teens to try new things, make mistakes, and grow. Brainfood reaches young people through a positive approach based
on one of the oldest and most universal of human traditions: food and its power to create community.
Brainfood is the Lehrman Foundation's fifth annual Impact Award recipient which supports an outstanding emerging nonprofit organization that is making an extraordinary difference in DC.
Mission:
Brainfood's mission is to use food as a tool to build life skills with local youth in a fun and creative setting.
Through culinary-related activities, the organization strives to expand cognitive skills, encourage creativity, foster self-reliance
and empower youth as resources in their own community.
"Grants that Make a Difference" is a rotating
feature profiling grants awarded to 501(c)3 nonprofit
organizations in the Metropolitan Washington,
DC area ONLY (the grantmaker doesn't necessarily
have to be local). The selection of grants for
"Grants That Make a Difference" is based on criteria
such as programmatic interests, geographic focus,
and size, to ensure the broadest possible representation
of the region's nonprofit sector.
If you'd like to see a grant awarded to your NPO
featured here, e-mail a detailed description of
the grant (following the format below), to dclibrary@foundationcenter.org,
with "Grants Submission" in the subject line.
We welcome press releases in addition to, or as
a substitute for the description.
Here is what you need to include:
- Name of your funded program
- The amount of the grant (indicate if multi-year)
- Who received the grant - Your organization's name, contact person's name (if applicable), address, telephone and Web site (if applicable).
- Who gave the grant - Name of the grantmaker
- Community impact: A brief (250 words maximum) explanation of how this program is making a difference in the community.
- Your organization's mission and how it relates to this funded project.
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