First Nations Launches New “Nourishing Native Children: Feeding Our Future” Grant Program

Longmont, Colorado, April 12, 2017 -- LONGMONT, Colorado (April 12, 2017) – First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) today launched a new grant program called “Nourishing Native Children: Feeding Our Future” thanks to generous funding provided by the Walmart Foundation. The effort will provide grants to Native American communities interested in expanding nutrition resources for existing programs that serve American Indian children ages 6-14. First Nations plans to award up to 10 grants of up to $15,000 each to continue or expand existing nutrition efforts.

The deadline for all online grant applications is May 5, 2017. The grant period will commence June 1, 2017, and end January 31, 2018. The full Request for Proposals and the application link can be found at http://www.firstnations.org/grantmaking/2017NourishingNativeChildren.

For many Native children, meals provided by their school, nonprofit service provider, or through a take-home food program, may be the most consistent and/or nutritionally-balanced food they receive. The project’s two-fold goal is to support 10 Native American, community-based feeding programs in at least three states serving Native children ages 6-14, and to learn from these programs and other model programs about best practices, challenges, barriers to success, and systemic and policy issues affecting Native children’s hunger, and to foster partnerships among programs.

In conjunction with this grant opportunity, First Nations will host a facilitated, one-day convening with one representative from each of the 10 selected grantees to gather information, provide a networking opportunity, and discuss promising models and practices. The convening will held during the national Food Sovereignty Summit between October 2 and 5, 2017, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Summit is co-hosted by First Nations and the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin.

Entities eligible to apply are schools serving a primarily Native student body, Native nonprofit organizations that are Native-controlled 501(c)3s or tribally-controlled, and tribes. Eligible applicants will be rural- or reservation-based and will have existing feeding programs (not startups) and will provide nutritious food either at their facilities and/or through take-home programs (like backpack programs) to Native children aged 6-14.

First Nations is seeking existing Native American education programs that currently reach or will expand to reach a significant number of Native children in tribal communities that have significant rates of food insecurity or hunger. First Nations will also focus on programs that demonstrate the ability to collect data necessary to demonstrate impact, indicate willingness to participate in this project’s learning convening, and which have the potential for extrapolating lessons learned and best practices that will have relevance for other feeding programs for Native children. First Nations seeks programs that already have a programmatic policy component in place or indicate a strong interest in working toward systemic changes or policy changes to address children’s hunger in their communities and that will be sustainable beyond this grant period.

There will be two informational webinars for interested applicants. Although these are optional, it is recommended that applicants tune in to one or both of them:

• April 19, 2017, at 11 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time (which is 10 a.m. Pacific / Noon Central / 1 p.m. Eastern). REGISTER HERE: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4460765235071451137
• April 25, 2017, at 1 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time (which is Noon Pacific / 2 p.m. Central / 3 p.m. Eastern). REGISTER HERE: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8262841259548796929

About First Nations Development Institute

For 36 years, using a three-pronged strategy of educating grassroots practitioners, advocating for systemic change, and capitalizing Indian communities, First Nations has been working to restore Native American control and culturally-compatible stewardship of the assets they own – be they land, human potential, cultural heritage, or natural resources – and to establish new assets for ensuring the long-term vitality of Native American communities.  First Nations serves Native American communities throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.firstnations.org.

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Program Contacts:
A-dae Romero-Briones, First Nations Associate Director of Research and Policy, Native Agriculture 
(303) 774-7836 x212 or [email protected] 

Tawny Wilson, First Nations Program Officer 
(303) 774-7836 x218 or [email protected] 

Media Contact:
Randy Blauvelt, First Nations Senior Communications Officer 
(303) 774-7836 x213 or [email protected]