Right before Election Day, the Dalai Llama wrote a lovely op-ed in the New York Times. He said, “We should start each day by consciously asking ourselves, ‘What can I do today to appreciate the gifts that others offer?’ Each of us has the responsibility to make this a habit.” As 2016 comes to end, I’d like to take a moment and appreciate the partners who have made our work possible.
The City of Madison has been a long-time funder through our contract for services with the Community Development Department. We are grateful to Laura Noel and Nancy Dungan for their patience and support as we work through our growing pains.
Our lender, Foward Community Investments, has provided us the support and resources that have allowed us to get to where we are. Their work is a gift to Madison.
The Madison Community Foundation contributed $27,500 and the Goodman Foundation contributed $22,725 this year towards making Healthy Food For All (HFFA) possible. The Evjue Foundation gave an additional $5,000 and Dane County provided a fleet van which has helped HFFA deliver 80,000 lbs of food to vulnerable families this year.
MCF also awarded $19,000 to FEED towards the installation of external electrical outlets for food carts and a mixer to support our bakery training programs.
Snowforest architectural photography worked with us pro bono to create a virtual tour of FEED Kitchens and provided us with beautiful promotional pics.
The American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation gave $10,000 to support the FEED Bakery Training Program, helping us get through a critical first year of operations.
MGE has been unfailingly generous this year, with a $5,000 grant for the FEED Bakery Training Program, $1,000 sponsorship of the North Star Awards, and, of course, their annual sponsorship of the Northside News calendar of events insert. They helped fund the Northside Business Walk, along with the City, and they printed color copies of our annual report. What I appreciate most is how gracious and engaged both Dave Benforado and Pam Christenson are whenever we interact.
The Madison Food Policy Council awarded us $6600 to operate, in collaboration with the Kennedy Heights Community Center, the Northside Grocery Shuttle, while we waited for our new store to open. Between Mark Woulf and George Reistad, the experience was nothing but positive.
A year ago, we couldn’t have anticipated the partner we would find in the Willy Street Co-op. Along with awarding HFFA a $1600 grant, supporting the Community Suppers and sponsoring the North Star Awards, the Co-op also co-sponsored the Northside Grocery Shuttle with Woodman’s Market.
UW Credit Union provided a generous $2500 sponsorship of the North Star Awards. We’re excited to welcome the new Northport Branch Manager, Alex Rafferty.
And, of course, we are always grateful to our Northside advertisers and North Star Awards sponsors, including the Northside TownCenter, the Northside Business Association and Manna Cafe. Together, we are improving the quality of life on the Northside.