THE 2024 GFPI COMMUNITY FUND : Applications Closed

COMMUNITY FUND OVERVIEW 

The objective of the Metro Chicago Good Food Purchasing Initiative (GFPI) Community Fund is to increase access to Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP)-aligned produce and food products in the Metro Chicago Region. This goal is achieved through providing both financial & technical support for systemically marginalized, local farms and food businesses who are working on increasing community food access that builds local economies, sustainable practices, fair labor, animal welfare nutrition and advances the work of building equity in the Metro Chicago food system.

The Application period closed on November 11th at 11:59pm CST.

  • Accessible Adaptive & Flexible Funding: 

    • Alleviating common constraints experienced by systemically marginalized1 farmers and food entrepreneurs by offering awardees flexible funding3 and support during the application process (1:1 Counseling, Office Hours & Language Translation and Interpretation Services)

    Increased Community Engagement and Awareness: 

    • Raising public awareness about the importance of supporting local farmers and food businesses while promoting the GFPP values. 

    Enhanced Availability of Healthy and Nutritious, Fair, Local, Sustainable, & Humane foods in Institutions 

    • Increasing the amount of locally sourced GFPP-aligned produce and food products in public meal programs, Institutions, and community food access sites including,

    • Public meal programs:Schools (NSLP), community centers, senior centers, and other organizations serving meals to the public

    • Community meal sites/ food access sites: Food banks, food pantries, mutual aid programs, community gardens, and other initiatives focused on improving food access and security. 

    • Public or Private Institutions: Libraries, hospitals, Universities, government offices

    Supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and the Builder’s Initiative, the second annual grant round will provide flexible $40,000 to $80,000 grants. Grant awardees will also receive tailored technical assistance throughout the duration of the grant period.

    • Farmers: Systemically marginalized, local farmers who adhere and/or strive towards GFPP values (racially equitable, healthy, fair, local, humane, and sustainable). This includes both rural and urban growers as well as indoor and outdoor growers. This fund is intended for small to midsize growing operations.

    • Food Organizations/Businesses: Local food processors, value-add manufacturers, food service providers, prepared food providers, distributors, and aggregators that align with GFPP values (racially equitable, healthy, fair, local, humane, and sustainable)and are in need of financial support and technical assistance for capacity building to increase their access to community-food access sites and/or institutional buyers.

    • Desire to supply/sell: The organization aims to begin, expand, and/or improve their service to community meal sites, public meal programs and/or institutions.

      • Public meal programs:Schools (NSLP), hospitals, community centers, senior centers, and other organizations serving meals to the public

      • Community meal sites/ food access sites: Food banks, food pantries, mutual aid programs, community gardens, and other initiatives focused on improving food access and security. 

      • Public or Private Institutions: City of Chicago, its Sister Agencies, and Cook County Government 

    • Desire to Collaborate: The farm/organization has plans and aspirations for developing collaborative relationships/have demonstrated dedication to collaborative relationships (through sharing resources and/or knowledge) with other mission-aligned farms/food businesses in the Metro Chicago food system to advance the GFPP values.

    • Serve Suburban Cook County / Metro Chicago: Your farm/organization serves Suburban Cook County and/or Metro Chicago.

    • Locally based: Your farm/organization’s primary operations are based in the state of Illinois and/or within a 250 mile radius of Chicago (500 miles for meat, poultry, and seafood).

    • Legal entity: Qualifying organizations are privately, cooperatively, or non-profit owned and operated.

    • Systemically Marginalized: Refers to groups of people who experience social, economic, and/or political exclusion and/or discrimination based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, disability, and/or religion.

      Organizations may apply to the 2024 GFPI Community Fund with multiple projects (more than one application per business). Previous GFPI Community Fund awardees may apply for additional funding for an ongoing project or a new project. However, there is a maximum of one grant awarded per organization/business per year.

  • The application period is open from Friday October 4th, until Monday, November 11, 2024 at 11:59 PM CDT. Funding decisions will be made by the GFPI Community Fund Review Committee in December 2024.

  • Please click HERE to learn about the inaugural 2023 GFPI Community Fund Awardees and their respective projects.

 

OFFICE HOURS -

For additional application support, the GFPI Community Fund is offering the following office hours and opportunities for 1:1 sessions. 

Office hours are a space for applicants to ask questions and/or request help with the application process in a group setting. You are welcome to join for a portion or all of these hour-long office hour sessions.

  1. Tuesday, October 15th 7:00-8:00 PM CT - Register via Zoom 

  2. Sunday, October 20th 4:00-5:00 PM CT - Register via Zoom 

  3. Supplier Development Event on October 28th 11:30 AM CT - Register for the Supplier Development Event | Register only for the Community Fund Info Session

  4. Tuesday, November 5th 10:00-11:00 AM CT - Register via Zoom 

1:1 SESSIONS-

In order to make this application process as accessible as possible, The GFPI Community Fund Manager will hold thirty minute 1:1 sessions for applicants to ask questions or request specific support with their individual application. These sessions are only available by request and can be scheduled at the following link: Schedule a 30 minute time slot via Google Calender Here. Language interpretation services are available upon request. Please reach out to kaitlyn@chicagofoodpolicy.com if you would like to utilize the language interpretation services.


KICK-OFF WEBINAR –

The kick-off webinar was held on October 3, 2024 at 4 PM CDT. This webinar was recorded and held in English with a live interpretation to Spanish. Both versions of the recording are available to watch at the following link: GFPI Community Fund Info Session Recording. Click here for the Info Session Powerpoint Presentation. 


READY TO APPLY?

Step 1: Review The Application Materials

  • Throughly read the Request for Proposal (RFP):

    • The RFP Includes the following information: Application Timeline | Application Review | Kick-off Information Session | Office Hours | 1:1 Sessions | Project Period | Funding | Eligibility | Additional Benefits | Measurement and Evaluation | Frequently Asked Questions

  • Review the Full list of Application Questions:

  • Review the Budget Template:

  • Review the Scoring Rubric:

Step 2: Fill out & Submit the Application Form

(Please reach out if you need an application that does not require a google sign-in)

For inquiries regarding the 2024 GFPI Community Fund, contact KP (Kaitlyn Poindexter) (CFPAC Community Fund Manager) at kaitlyn@chicagofoodpolicy.com

This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number ALN 21.027 awarded to Cook County by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.



































ARCHIVED: THE 2023 GFPI COMMUNITY FUND

COMMUNITY FUND OVERVIEW 

The objective of the Metro Chicago Good Food Purchasing Initiative (GFPI) Community Fund is to increase access to Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP)-aligned produce and food products in the Metro Chicago region through financially supporting systematically marginalized, local farms and food businesses striving to meet GFPP standards (including local sourcing, sustainable practices, fair labor, animal welfare, and nutrition).


INTENDED IMPACT

  • Enhanced availability of local, sustainable, and nutritious food: Increasing the presence of GFPP-aligned produce and food products in public meal programs and community food access sites, thereby improving the quality and sustainability of the food served.

  • Strengthened local food economy: Supporting local farms and food businesses by creating new market opportunities, fostering economic growth, & encouraging sustainable practices.

  • Increased community engagement and awareness: Raising public awareness about the importance of supporting local farmers and food businesses while promoting the GFPP values and principles.

  • Accessible Adaptive Funding: This fund aims to increase opportunities for local farms and food businesses to participate in institutional procurement by strategically adapting our financing vehicles and requirements to alleviate common constraints experienced by systematically marginalized farmers and food entrepreneurs.


Supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and the Builder’s Initiative, our inaugural grant round will award 5-10 applicants with unrestricted grants ranging from $40,000 to $80,000. Grant recipients will also receive tailored, technical assistance during the grant period duration. 

Reference Guide

For ease of reference, you can download the following:

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL 

APPLICATION TIMELINE

The application period is open from Friday, September 29, 2023 until Monday, October 30, 2023 at 11:59 PM CDT. Funding decisions will be made by the GFPI Community Fund Review Committee by the end of November 2023. 

APPLICATION REVIEW 

For transparency, the Scoring Rubric that will be used by the GFPI Community Fund Review Committee to evaluate applications is included here.

Kick-off Information Session

There was a kick-off Informational Session on Thursday, September 28, 2023 from 3:00-4:00 PM CT. This session (presented in both English and Spanish) was recorded and available to watch below.

Workshops

For additional group and individual application support, the GFPI Community Fund is offering the following workshops and opportunities for 1:1 sessions.  The workshops are space for applicants to ask questions or request help with the application process in a group setting. You are welcome to join for a portion or all of these hour-long workshops.

  1. Thursday October 5th 10:00-11:00 AM CT - Register via Zoom

  2. Tuesday, October 10th 7:00-8:00 PM CT - Register via Zoom

  3. Sunday, October 15th 4:00-5:00 PM CT - Register via Zoom

  4. Final Workshop on the Week of October 23rd - TBD: Complete this Poll 


1:1 SESSIONS – 

Thirty minute 1:1 sessions for applicants to ask questions or request specific support with their application.  Language translation services are available upon request

Project Period

The grant period is one year, from November 2023 until November 2024, with the option of one or two disbursements (preference indicated during onboarding process). 

Funding

Unrestricted grant funding (ranging between $40,000 - $80,000 for 5-10 recipients) supporting GFPP values and progress towards selling to community meal sites and institutional purchasing in Metro Chicago. 


Eligibility

Eligible to Apply (Direct Beneficiaries): 

  • Farmers: Systematically marginalized, local farmers who adhere and/or strive towards GFPP values, providing them with financial support for technical assistance or capacity building which will in turn increase access to community-food access sites and/or institutional buyers

  • Food Organizations/Businesses: Local food processors, value-add manufacturers, food service providers, prepared food providers, distributors, and aggregators that align with GFPP values, helping them expand their customer base and increase their capacity to serve public meal programs and community food access sites

  • Local: state of Illinois or within a 250 mile radius of the City of Chicago

  • Legal entity: any entity type; for-profit or non-profit organizations

  • Maximum one grant awarded per organization/business per year. There is potential for follow-on funding for recipients.


Indirect beneficiaries include public meal programs (i.e. schools, hospitals, community centers, and other organizations serving meals to the public), community food access sites (i.e. food banks, food pantries, mutual aid, community gardens, and other initiatives focused on improving food access and security), and community meal recipients. 


Additional Benefits

  • Technical Assistance (TA) – Along with unrestricted grant awards, recipients will have the option of receiving TA tailored to their organizational or business needs (up to 8 touch points). Applicants can share more about their experience with TA, indicate their preferred TA categories, and recommend specific providers in their application. 

  • Exposure and Networking Opportunities – Recipients will be invited to onboard and network with the other grant recipients similarly passionate about increasing the availability of local, fair, sustainable food products in the Metro Chicago region. There will also be opportunities to highlight your organization/business and celebrate your milestones across the extensive GFPI and CFPAC networks.

  • Quarterly Check-ins – In lieu of intensive reporting, recipients will have access to additional coaching, project support, and opportunities for industry connections on a quarterly basis through the GFPI Community Fund Program Manager.


Measurement and Evaluation

At the beginning of the grant period, the GFPI Community Fund Program Manager will assist Fund Recipients in developing measurable goals relevant to their project and will provide quarterly tracking on progress. Additional qualitative data will be collected at the end of the grant period to support a deeper understanding of the following topics:  

  • Increased knowledge and/or participation in institutional selling

  • Impact of grant funding on your organization/business’s progress on GFPP goals 

  • Feedback on program support and technical assistance provided

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ Table of Contents:

READY TO APPLY?

To apply, complete this Application Form. For inquiries regarding the GFPI Community Fund, contact Mabel Shiu (CFPAC Community Fund Manager) at mabel@chicagofoodpolicy.com.