Celebrating 10 Years of Whole Cities Impact with 71 New Reasons to Celebrate
Whole Cities’ vision, heart, and ethic were born a decade ago, working to broaden access to fresh, healthy food and nutrition education by supporting grassroots partnerships on the local level. Our commitments look different in each community because different barriers to healthy food access require different solutions.
Our Director of Programs, Dianna Purcell, explains, “Since its inception, Whole Cities has believed in the power of homegrown solutions that are tailored to the goals of individual communities.”
We are thrilled to share that since our founding in 2014, Whole Cities has employed this community-first approach to partner with over 332 nonprofits across 169 cities in the U.S. and Canada, contributing more than $5 million to local communities.
And we’re not stopping there. Through programs like the Community First Grant, we are able to meet the needs and reflect the desires of the people we serve, be respectful and responsive to different perspectives, and champion locally led solutions — just like we set out to do 10 years ago.
Announcing the 2024-2025 Community First Grants
Now, we’re awarding 71 Community First Grants to U.S. and British Columbia nonprofit organizations. This year’s grantees will receive an average of $9,000 each for a total investment of over $639,000!
The 2024 – 2025 Community First Grant partners span 54 cities in 25 U.S. states and 1 Canadian province and highlight the diversity of approaches to improving access to fresh, healthy food and nutrition education.
The cohort includes:
23 nutrition education and healthy cooking classes
12 community gardens
10 urban farms
8 agricultural skills development programs
7 special projects
5 farmer’s markets, co-ops, and grocery stores
3 mobile markets
2 SNAP and WIC incentive programs
1 pop-up markets and CSAs
Read on for a snapshot of how some of these Community First Grant partners are transforming their local food landscape and advancing community health.