Puerto Rico Food Bank distributes $2M to fight local hunger
The Puerto Rico Food Bank announced the distribution of $2 million among 25 community projects that will bring Puerto Rico closer to the goal of Zero Hunger, said Denise L. Santos, president of the nonprofit.
This contribution is connected to a donation from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott, who chose the Bank as one of the only two recipients of her donations in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Food Bank received the funding from the grant that Scott assigned to Feeding America, as News is my Business reported.
The Food Bank put a call out to its 173 agencies to present proposals aimed at addressing aspects of the fight for food sustainability such as food, education, nutrition, economic development, job creation, agriculture, among others.
Four panels of three judges selected the winning proposals. For these awards, the nonprofit allocated close to $2 million to be distributed in 25 projects that will benefit 50 communities from all sectors and regions including Vieques and Culebra.
The projects include local agricultural development, the creation of solidarity kitchens, expanding food distribution, contributing to the resilience of Vieques and Culebra, and providing water tanks to communities that have never had drinking water.
“This is a really significant step in our fight against hunger. Although Mackenzie Scott’s donation did not require it to be distributed to entities, we’ve decided to fund these projects with this money to promote food sustainability in our disadvantaged communities,” said Santos.
“With our network of allied community entities, we reached areas of great need throughout the island,” she said.
