Feature Stories

MAZON awards grants to three CT Jewish agencies

Visit MAZON.org for more info

Founded in 1985, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing and alleviating hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds. Mazon (Hebrew for “food” or “sustenance”) was the first national organization to rally the American Jewish community around the issue of hunger, and remains the only national Jewish organization dedicated exclusively to that cause. Mazon responds to the immediate needs of the hungry, and works to develop and advance long-term solutions to hunger.
The organization approaches its objective through three interrelated strategies: advocacy and education, strategic initiatives, and partnership grants. Over the last 25 years, Mazon has awarded grants totaling more than $58 million to organizations that represent the spectrum of the country’s anti-hunger network, from food banks, food pantries, home-delivered meal programs, and kosher meal programs, to advocacy groups working at the local, state, and national levels to expand participation in federal food-assistance programs and champion responsible government policies that can prevent widespread hunger in the future.
Among the eight Connecticut agencies that are recipients of Mazon grants in 2011, three are Jewish organizations:

■ Jewish Federation Association of Connecticut (JFACT) has received support from Mazon for more than a decade. Half of the annual $8,000 grant is redistributed to the Connecticut Jewish Federations that provide kosher lunch programs for the elderly, including the Federations that serve greater Hartford, greater New Haven, Stamford, Bridgeport, Eastern Connecticut, Western Connecticut, and Danbury. The remaining $4,000 helps JFACT in its work at the state level, advocating for the needs of hungry children, families, and the elderly.

■ The Stamford JCC received a grant for its senior kosher lunch program, the only kosher nutrition program in Lower Fairfield County. A partnership with the Senior Nutrition Program of Catholic Charities of Fairfield County, the JCC program provides lunch four days a week to older adults, aged 60 to 100.

■ Jewish Family Services of Greater Hartford uses the grant to pay the salary of kosher food pantry director Shari J. Cantor.

SHARE
RELATED POSTS
Video of the Week
Conversation with Peter Max
Jewish American Heritage Month: Science & Medicine

Leave Your Reply