Hunger Free Kansas Mini-Grants

Hunger Free Kansas Mini-Grants is sponsored by Kansas Health Foundation & K-State Extension. These grants support innovative approaches by extension agents to drive meaningful change in food security and anti-hunger initiatives in Kansas, focusing on addressing community conditions that support healthy behavior change.

Hunger Free Kansas Mini-Grants | K-State | Kansas State University Kansas Local Food Systems Hunger Free Kansas Mini-Grants Hunger Free Kansas and K-State Extension The Kansas Health Foundation committed $250,000 to K-State Extension to fund proposals that do the following: Advance the work of Hunger Free Kansas . Enhance collaboration with both university and community partners.

The purpose is to support innovative approaches leveraging extension agents to drive meaningful change in food security and anti-hunger initiatives. While traditional educational efforts by agents ca n influence individual behavior choices, addressing community conditions is a crucial aspect of supporting healthy behavior change in communities.

It is no longer enough to know how to be healthy — the environments in which we live, learn, work, and play must make healthy choices easy, accessible, safe, and affordable. Read the Press Release Announcing the Award Recipients https://extension. k-state.

edu/news-and-publications/news/stories/2025/02/health-hunger-free-kansas-mini-grants. html Read the Press Release Announcing the Award Recipients Funded projects will complete their work throughout 2025. Stay tuned for more updates!

Questions? Email hfk@k-state. edu !

Learn More About the Award Recipients Barber County - Barber County Beef & Veggies This project is an initiative that aims to increase the production and accessibility of the community gardens and increase community support for the local beef project.

Central Kansas District - Charting the Path to Food Equity: A Strategic Community Food Assessment for Saline County This project will engage community partners in conducting a comprehensive food assessment to identify gaps and opportunities across Saline County’s food system—from production and access to waste and distribution—with the goal of increasing food security and strengthening local food networks.

Central Kansas District - Nourishing Our Seniors: Ensuring County-Wide Meal Support This project will support the replacement of an outdated commercial freezer and refrigerator at the Golden Wheel Senior Center, allowing staff to continue preparing and serving nutritious meals to seniors across the county. This initiative enhances food security, promotes healthy aging, and strengthens community support for older adults.

Cowley County - Growing Food is Medicine in Cowley County This is a pilot project with 30 patients of the Community Health Center to access fresh, local produce during the summer of 2025. Cowley County - Improving Food Access through SNAP and Area Food Pantries This project will raise community awareness to food insecurity in Cowley County as well as what resources are available to those experiencing it.

We will partner with the "Engaged Stories Lab" at K-State to have a paid intern interview, film, and edit a short video on this topic. Extension Nutrition Program - K-State Food Assistance Outreach Program Our project aims to address the "SNAP Gap" by increasing awareness, participation and retention in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) among Kansas State University students.

Our goal is to establish a one-stop resource center designed to support students by using peer navigators. Peer navigators will guide students step-by-step through the SNAP eligibility, application, and recertification processes, providing support in a manner that is approachable and relatable.

By leveraging peer-to-peer interactions, the program can reduce stigma and increase awareness among students who may not realize they qualify for SNAP benefits.

Flint Hills District - Full Plates, Bright Futures The Full Plates, Bright Futures program of the Live Well Morris County (LWMC) coalition is a county-wide based effort to raise awareness about child hunger emphasizing education outreach to youth and adults about food insecurity, providing food relief for those in immediate need, and increasing awareness of food and nutrition resources through engaging youth lessons, adult programming, and promotion of related community resources.

Frontier District - Enhancing the Richmond Food Pantry in the Frontier Extension District This project aims to enhance the nutrition environment of the Richmond Food Pantry by upgrading shelving and refrigeration and implementing evidence-based nutrition nudges to promote and encourage healthier food choices.

Hamilton County - Take a Bite Out of Hunger in Hamilton County This project will strengthen their partnership with the Kansas Food Bank to increase access to fresh produce for their community, ensuring more consistent availability of healthy food options for those in need. Additionally, they will train staff to assist food-insecure individuals with enrolling in SNAP and WIC benefits.

Once trained, staff will lead local sign-up events to reduce barriers and connect more residents to essential nutrition support programs. Harvey County - Increasing SNAP enrollment in Harvey County Lyon County - Nourish Our Neighbors This project is working towards fighting hunger and food insecurity by training food pantry staff to assist individuals with applying for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

Through the grant, food pantry staff learned about "Food as Medicine. ” Many of the entities will be receiving equipment and resources to expand their services. Marais des Cygnes District - My Father's House Kitchen and Cooking Project This project is a partnership between the Marais des Cygnes Extension District and My Father’s House Transitional Housing Shelter.

The goal of the project is to meet the basic kitchen and nutritional needs of individuals moving out of the transitional shelter and into permanent housing in the community. This will be done through giving "kitchen kits" containing essential kitchen supplies and offering Create Better Health Cooking classes taught by Extension SNAP-Ed Nutrition Educators.

Marshall County - Supporting Social Service Access in Marshall County Post Rock District - Post Rock District Food Pantry Enrichment This project aims to provide food pantries within the Post Rock District with equipment and resources to enhance the nutrition environment by encouraging healthier food donations to the pantry, therefore healthier options for guests.

Pratt County - Pratt County Farm to Freezer This project is creating awareness for the need of donations of beef and other protein to the two food pantries in Pratt County and purchasing a freezer for them.

Reno County - Reno County Local Food Advocate The Reno County K-State Extension Local Food Advocate is focused on assisting food pantries in the food deserts located in Reno County with procuring funding for equipment to expand their ability to store and/or cook and serve food, funding a dollar match program at the Reno County Farmers Market, raising awareness and donations for food insecurity, and compiling a listing of food pantries to ensure that food insecure residents can easily find resources.

Riley County - Stock the Box - Filling a Gap with Community This project involves working with local partners, community members, and agencies throughout Riley County to make stocking Blessing Boxes a routine activity.

River Valley District - Expanding Local Food Access to Low-Resource Households in Cloud County The River Valley Extension District and the Cloud County Resource Center are working to set the Concordia Farmers Market up to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cards as well as credit/debit cards.

This project will increase access to locally grown and prepared foods, not only for their area SNAP households, but for the community at large. This project will also allow their local food producers to reach a new customer base.

Sedgwick County - Community Health Worker: The Next Step Living Waters Ministries Food Pantry, a client choice pantry, aims to care for the whole person using the social determinants of health to inform their work. To make this possible, the pantry is hiring a Community Health Worker (CHW) to provide nutrition education, assist with SNAP and WIC applications, and connect clients to additional resources.

Shawnee County - Community Garden for SENT's Southside Filling Station food pantry and Farm-to-Food Truck: Inclusive Workforce Development Program This project is creating a community garden in which they are able to provide sustainable gardening practices that will enhance SENT’s Southside Filling Station choice food pantry and support the Farm-to Food Truck Inclusive Workforce Development Program.

Southwind District - Rural Pantry Network Initiative The Rural Pantry Network aims to increase food pantry availability, integrate community health workers (CHWs) to assist with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) enrollment, host commodity distributions, and expand congregate meal sites.

Wildcat District - Increasing Healthy Snacking and Food Literacy in Vulnerable Populations This project is increasing healthy snack access and health literacy for vulnerable populations.