First Grants Issued in Pursuing Federal Funds Grant Program
Santa Fe, NM — The Thornburg Foundation is awarding a total $50,000 in grants to four New Mexico food & agriculture non-profits: Three Sister’s Kitchen, One Generation, Center of Southwest Culture, and Western Landowners Alliance. The grants will aid these nonprofits in accessing federal funding available under programs such as the Farmers Market Promotion Program, Beginning Farmer & Rancher Development Program, and Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities. Each grantee’s proposal directly supports farmers and ranchers with technical assistance resources and strives to create new market opportunities for those producers across New Mexico. The combined total leverage amount of public and private funds sought is an estimated $128,000,000.
“The recent influx of federal funding is unprecedented,” said Allan Oliver, Executive Director of the Thornburg Foundation. “We want to respond in a way that ensures nonprofits in New Mexico have a viable opportunity to pursue these new funds so that they can be used to improve the lives of our fellow New Mexicans. Unfortunately, New Mexico growers make about $35,000 less annually than the average U.S. farmer. This first round of grants will directly benefit our state’s local farming and ranching communities and help build sustainable local food systems.”
These grants are offered through the Support for Pursuing Federal Funds Grant Program, which launched earlier this spring. Anchorum St. Vincent, Thornburg Foundation and Santa Fe Community Foundation have joined together to provide rapid response grants for nonprofits in the sectors of Food & Agriculture, Water Resources Management, and Health & Social Determinants of Health. This critical funding aids New Mexico nonprofits in securing federal funds for local communities that need it most.
About Thornburg Foundation
Thornburg Foundation is a family foundation that makes grants in the areas of good government reform, early childhood education, agriculture reform, water policy, and community funding. We work to catalyze high-impact outcomes using evidence to understand and solve systemic problems, engage stakeholders to drive policy reform, and create meaningful and lasting change.