The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has announced the 2023-2024 PA Hunger-Free Campus Grant Program, with $1 million in funding available to help institutions of higher education (IHE) better serve their school communities.
Donor Name: Pennsylvania Department of Education
State: Pennsylvania
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 10/23/2023
Size of the Grant: $60,000
Details:
In his inaugural budget, Governor Josh Shapiro advocated for the continued $1 million to support postsecondary institutions’ efforts in addressing student hunger needs on campus. In 2023-24, the work will continue to build a coalition of colleges and universities focused on addressing hunger and other basic needs for their students; creating opportunities for connection among student hunger advocates; providing resources and strategies for campuses; and supporting opportunities to apply for grants related to addressing food insecurity.
Postsecondary institutions that received a PA Hunger-Free Campus+ designation implemented additional innovative solutions to address student hunger and other basic needs for their campus community in conjunction with demonstrating the criteria above. Examples of these initiatives included offering a variety of meal plans, including an option that provides ten or fewer meals weekly to avoid interfering with SNAP eligibility, creating, or implementing meal-sharing programs, educating student leaders on campus to develop student-centered programs, or facilitating innovative community partnerships.
Funding Information
The 2023-2024 PA Hunger-Free Campus grant offers designated institutions the opportunity to apply for competitive funding in an amount up to:
- $20,000 for institutions with 3,000 or fewer learners;
- $40,000 for institutions with 3,001 to 7,000 learners; and
- $60,000 for institutions with 7,001 learners or more.
Eligible Programs
Consideration for a PA Hunger-Free Campus Grant will be given to proposals that include (but are not limited to):
- Partnering or collaborating with additional local agencies to connect students directly to expanded food options such as on-campus food pantries, local community-based food pantries, or food delivery programs.
- Travel costs associated with local community partnership meetings and pick up of food and pantry supplies (limited to gas and mileage).
- Travel costs associated with student transportation to access off-campus food services (i.e. gas cards or public transportation passes).
- Expansion of pantry services on campus, including the purchase of refrigeration, purchase of food, and upgrades to existing facilities.
- Providing stipends for staffing of food pantry services on campus (this cannot exceed more than 25 percent of the total grant).
- Providing stipends for staff to assist students in completing applications for benefits such as SNAP, LIHEAP, etc. in the COMPASS system.
- Programs that provide services for students on weekends, holidays, and breaks (ex: pre-bundled food).
- Record keeping systems implementation and/or improvement.
- Advertising/marketing materials to communicate the existence of services on campus and the hours of operation.
- Partnering with the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice at Temple University’s #RealCollege Survey.
- Alliance(s) with off-campus partners to facilitate the expansion of services on campus.
- Awareness initiatives to ensure food insecurity is addressed in equitable ways.
Eligibility Criteria
- For the purposes of this grant, “institution” shall include postsecondary institutions in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with authorization to award an associate degree or higher academic degree, as defined in section 2001-J of the Public-School Code of 1949, as amended and private licensed schools, as defined in the Act of December 15, 1986.
- Only one proposal will be accepted from each institution. Applicants may not apply as a consortium. Only the main campus may apply, and funds can be disseminated to branches as the institution deems appropriate, if awarded.
- To be eligible to apply for a PA Hunger-Free Campus Grant, the institution must have applied for and received PA Hunger-Free Campus or PA Hunger-Free Campus+ designations. Institutions must have received their designation by July 1, 2023, in order to be eligible.
For more information, visit PDE.
