2024 SLC Food Microgrant Awardees
In 2024, sixty-two (62) individual residents or households were awarded $250 each to support their own home food production efforts such as vegetable and herb gardens, fruit trees, food preservation, backyard chickens, and beekeeping.
Additionally, Community Grants were awarded to ten (10) community groups engaged in projects that address one or more of the grant priority categories: growing food, inclusive outreach, dignified food access, and healthy food environments.
See below for a list of Community Grant recipients and a brief description of what they each used the funding for.
Community Grant Awardees
‘Aikona
Grant Category: Growing Food
Primary Location(s): Westside SLC – Glendale, Poplar Grove, Rose Park
Organization: ‘Aikona is a community of gardeners, stewards and storytellers on the Westside of Salt Lake City who seek to heal the land and community through collectively growing food of our Oceania-Pasifika Island cultures, Indigenous and various cultures. We learn and teach our community how to cook and bake with our culture specific fruits and vegetables. We document the stories of our elders through the youth and children.
Project: To detox the soil and land of the plot we have been given. We will clear the area for gardening. We will pick specific cultural plants to the Pacific Islands and Indigenous cultures, Black and additional cultures.
Fill the Pot Ministries
Grant Category: Healthy Food Environments
Primary Location(s): Downtown, 500 W 300 S
Organization: Fill the Pot Ministry was founded to serve our brothers and sisters in need, not just with home cooked meals, but encouragement and love. Our ministry serves hundreds of hot meals every Sunday morning (about 2,200 people per month). We also provide clothing, hygiene items, employment & education assistance, and addiction & mental health support. Our goal is to bring hope to those in need, let them know they matter, and help them get back on their feet.
Project: To develop a garden of flowers and food for unsheltered people to have the opportunity to connect with other humans while learning about plants. Establish a safe space for unsheltered people to cultivate relationships with Fill the Pot Ministries volunteers while growing fresh food for others, which can provide dignity and purpose.
Food Justice Coalition
Grant Category: Dignified food choices
Primary Location(s): office/kitchen in Downtown, services throughout Salt Lake County
Organization: The Food Justice Coalition is dedicated to advancing the cause of equitable healthy food access in Salt Lake City through the development of fresh, nutritionally dense, plant-based meals tailored to benefit food-insecure families and individuals experiencing homelessness.
Project: Support our Free Lunch Program, a critical initiative designed to offer direct and immediate assistance to residents of Utah grappling with food insecurity. Beyond the immediate provision of meals, our program incorporates an educational component through a cookbook and class offerings.
Missio Dei Community
Grant Category: Growing food
Primary Location(s): Guadalupe, Rose Park, Fairpark, Glendale communities
Organization: Missio Dei Community is a Salt Lake City, faith-based organization with a deep commitment to fostering inclusivity and serving our local neighborhood. Our organization was founded with a mission to be an inclusive community that serves its neighborhood.
Project: Convert the southeast side of the property from a grass lawn to a community garden. The garden will be used to grow food for donation to impacted communities in the area, to supply food to community events, and to give people who may not otherwise have access to a growing space.
New American Goat Club
Grant Category: Growing food
Primary Location(s): Glendale/West Valley, most participants live in Salt Lake City Organization: The New American Goat Club is a summer educational program for new Americans ages 8-18 who are interested in learning about goat husbandry and building connections with other youth from similar backgrounds. The club was founded to serve families that had raised goats in their countries of origin for multiple generations, but who now lack the land and resources to do so in their new home. We work with parents and grandparents who want their children and grandchildren to learn about goat rearing and the cultural importance of goat meat.
Project: Continue its work in teaching New American youth in the Salt Lake City area about goat husbandry while also developing their leadership and teamwork skills. This year, we plan to purchase 15 young goats for our club members to raise over the summer and show at our annual Goat Show. We also plan to hire an intern from among our Goat Club “graduates” to assist club leaders during the 2024 season.
Proyecto Xilonen
Grant Category: Growing food
Primary Location(s): Glendale/West Valley
Organization: Proyecto Xilonen was founded with the purpose of educating communities about the history and importance of maize in Mesoamerican culture. By incorporating historical accounts of the effects that settler colonization has had in Mesoamerican food, Chef Jean hopes to spark interest in the conservation of indigenous ingredients. Additionally, Proyecto Xilonen works to encourage communities and individuals to grow their own food utilizing ancient practices such as the milpa, also known as the Three Sisters Method.
Project: To aid our expansion into a new plot where we will use the Three Sisters Method to grow maize, squash and beans as well as other Mesoamerican crops. Through the process of growing the crops within community settings as well as the harvest of the crops, Proyecto Xilonen will center educational aspects that enrich the communities understanding of the importance of these practices.
Salt Lake City Community Fridges
Grant Category: Dignified food choices
Primary Location(s): Rose Park, Sugarhouse, South Salt Lake
Organization: Network of three community fridges addressing food insecurity and reducing food waste in Salt Lake City neighborhoods. Our purpose is to provide helpful and safe storage infrastructure that encourages Salt Lake City residents to share food resources at a grassroots level.
Project: Replace a fridge that is currently in disrepair with one that is outdoor ready and energy efficient. We will also purchase food to restock fridges with high demand items (milk, eggs, bread, etc.) when donations are not available and assist volunteer drivers with gas costs for donation pickups. Some funds will support outreach supply budget for informational materials (food safety instructions and signage, outreach fliers, etc.).
Salt Lake City Food Not Bombs
Grant Category: Dignified food choices
Primary Location(s): Central City
Organization: Salt Lake City Food Not Bombs aims to provide access to nutritious and delicious food to neighbors, community members, and underprivileged residents of Salt Lake City, absolutely free of charge. Our organization has operated continuously in Salt Lake City since 1999.
Project: Support existing food recovery and food distribution efforts through purchasing equipment (tables, tents, etc.) and to assist volunteer drivers with gas costs for food deliveries for people who cannot come to our weekly distribution site. We will also continue building upon an organic garden (established in 2023) specifically for Food Not Bombs, where whatever the garden produces is given away, and where beneficiaries have access to a healthy and safe food storage area.
Somali Community Self Management Agency
Grant Category: Growing food
Primary Location(s): Glendale
Organization: The Somali Community Self-Management Agency is a community-based service organization. Our mission is to work for the success of refugees and current community members to undergo a smooth transitional process and attain a self-sustainable status in the United States of America and the State of Utah.
Project: Increase the number of vegetable boxes in the garden we have established and grow a variety of fresh vegetables for the local community to share with their families. Any excess produce will be shared at the local 2-3x weekly food bank we operate at the Hartland Partnership Center.
Vanavil Community Garden
Grant Category: Growing food
Primary Location(s): Ballpark Organization: The garden was started to share my passion for gardening and eating locally grown, easily accessible produce with my community. Vanavil means “rainbow” in my native language, Tamil. The name initially came from us wanting to grow colorful vegetables like yellow tomatoes and purple carrots that are hard to get at grocery stores, but it has grown to also represent inclusivity. We typically grow varieties of fruits and vegetables that we grew up eating, are easy to cook, but hard to find or expensive in stores. We have grown more produce than we need and spread our unique produce to the community through the local buy nothing group and donated to some small businesses.
Project: Purchase plant starts so we can continue bringing the joy and therapeutic benefits of growing your own food and eating healthy to our community members. We will support local small businesses that carry the unique varieties of vegetables we want to grow.