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2023 summer Grant Recipients  

The following local organizations have been awarded grants

to help support their food initiatives throughout the Summer of 2023.

Summer Grants specifically seek to supplement food for students who rely on free or reduced breakfast and lunch during the school year.

​Say A Prayer Ministries/InJoy Food Pantry

Say A Prayer Ministries is a church that has a food pantry called InJoy Food Pantry located in Martinsburg. Say A Prayer Ministries can also help families with emergency needs between outreach days.

Martinsburg Activity Center

Martinsburg Activity Center, in partnership with InJoy Food Pantry, is providing on-site daily lunches to students throughout the Summer.

Mobility Management

Mobility Management provides transportation to community resources, including food pantries, local farmer’s markets, and hot meals. Its goal is to eliminate transportation barriers that keep people from accessing the food they need.

Church on the Rise Food Pantry

Church on the Rise serves food and non-food items to people in the community in need through a monthly giveaway. Emergency food is also provided at least 10 times a month for those in urgent need.

Central Christian Food Pantry

Central Christian Food Pantry provides food to families in Knox County and provides personal food packages for children during the Summer months.

Covenant Church Food Pantry

Covenant Church provides food for those in need in Knox County. They provide a family of four with enough food for 2 weeks. Extra food is used to reach out to families with children during the Summer.

Jacqueline McCalla-Cordle Children’s Fund

Jacqueline McCalla-Cordle Children’s Fund provides nutritious meals to qualified school children and families on reduced/free lunches. It has expanded its resources to meet the food insecurity of all residents in the Centerburg School District by opening a food pantry for weekly food distribution.

Fredericktown United Methodist Peacemeals

Fredericktown United Methodist Church provides a weekly community hot meal called PeaceMeals. All meals are prepared and served by volunteers.

Lazarus Life Ministries

Lazarus Life Ministries is a recovery program for men in Knox County. Lazarus Life hosts family weekend meals where families can come and visit the men in recovery.

Milwood Church of Christ
Sharing Shed & Garden

Millwood Church of Christ provides a free-standing sharing shed that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This shed has shelving for non-perishable food items and a refrigerator/freezer. There is also a garden that will provide fresh produce for the community. No paperwork is required, and neighbors are encouraged to take what they need and leave what they can.

The Escape Zone Youth Center

The Escape Zone provides a safe, supervised place for children ages 10–18 to congregate. This Summer, volunteers will also be providing meals to any child who is in need of food at the various events, such as Friday night activities, Bible study, youth volleyball and other sports throughout the week.

2022 Drive Grant Recipients  

The following local organizations have been awarded grants

to help support their food initiatives throughout 2023.

$1,000 Grant Recipients

The Freedom Center

The Freedom Center serves Substance use and Mental Health clients who are going through extremely hard times and are making difficult lifestyle changes, including healthy food choices. Meeting unexpected needs for clients in the recovery process. 

Mount Vernon Municipal Court 

The Municipal Court will help provide food within its area of influence.

Touchpointe Marriage & Family Resources

Along with counseling and educational assistance for marriage and parenting, Touchpointe provides food for clients who have need.

The Escape Zone

The Escape Zone provides snacks for teens who attend on Friday nights.

New Directions 

The agency provides services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. They often serve clients that need access to food immediately or who are in need of services outside of normal business hours. 

$1,500 Grant Recipients

CHOMP
Mulberry Street United Methodist Church

CHOMP is a free produce market serving Knox County. It runs from May to October. CHOMP helps any individual in the community struggling to provide fresh produce for themselves or their family. 

First Naz Mount Vernon Hot Meals and Father’s Table Food Pantry 

They serve a hot meal every Wednesday evening to an average of 75 people (and the number continues to grow.) They also host a food pantry to provide food for families in our community each month. 

Mount Vernon 7th Day Adventist Hot Meals Program 

Mount Vernon 7th Day Adventist Hot Meals provide a free hot meal for the people of Mount Vernon every week.

Covenant Church
Food Pantry 

Covenant Church Food Pantry is a local food pantry for the community of Mount Vernon.

Lazarus Life Ministries

The project is providing faith-based residential housing for men coming out of addiction. Their mission is help men (long-term) in their recovery journey. Part of this project includes feeding the men in the program and providing groceries each month. 

The Winter Sanctuary

The Winter Sanctuary will use this grant to purchase food for the residents who are facing homelessness.

$2,000 Grant Recipients

Northbend Church of the Brethern

They assist families struggling with food insecurity with food bags and snacks in northern Knox County. 

First Congregational Church of Christ Hot Meals Program

They provide a hot meal for people in Mount Vernon each week. 

Fredericktown United Methodist Church
Peace Meals Program 

They provide a free weekly meal for people in Fredericktown. Recipients can choose to eat at the church or pick up their meal to-go. 

Knox County Career Center Food Pantry 

Food Pantry for students of KCCC who need food assistance.

Central Christian Food Pantry

They provide a food pantry once a month.  They service over 700 individuals on a monthly basis. 

Millwood Church of Christ Sharing Shed 

They stock a shed with food for people to take whatever they need.

Gay Street United Methodist Church Hot Meals Program 

They serve a hot meal each week for the people of Mount Vernon.

Apostolic Christian Church Food Pantry

The Apostolic Christian Church received a special Emergency Equipment Repair Grant. The grant will help repair the compressor used in their food pantry.  

Knox County Task Force for Older Adults 

This project is a Senior Christmas Dinner Delivery. They will be giving Christmas dinners to folks over 60. They will mostly be shut-ins and they will deliver 130 meals to those in need. 

Church on The Rise Food Pantry

They serve food each month to the needy in our county.  They also are on the local 211 emergency food hotline and serve those in need throughout the month. 

Byron Saunders Foundation

They provide Thanksgiving meal boxes. Boxes include the food items for a meal as well as a gift certificate for a meat item to a local grocery. Serving approx. 350-400 families per year. 

Say a Prayer Ministries/InJoy Food Pantry 

Say A Prayer Ministries began 10 years ago, and started a small pantry, that consisted of a single shelf in our hallway. Now we serve over 200 individuals per month. Our mission is to feed the people in our community physically and spiritually.

2022 Major Grant Recipients

The Knox Learning Center

The grant will be used to purchase a refrigerated cabinet and help in the purchasing of food items that are used to supplement daily food distribution. This additional nutrition will help students be more attentive and have better retention of what is being taught. 

Lifepoint Church Backpacks of Hope 

The grant will be used to help provide healthy weekend meals to the Mount Vernon Elementary Schools of Columbia, Dan Emmett, East, Pleasant Street, Twin Oak, Wiggin Street as well as the Knox County Career Center, the Career Center preschool and the Learning Center. 

Central Christian Church Food Pantry 

The grant will be used to help procure food supplies from the Mid-Ohio Food Collective and help purchase a fifth-wheel trailer to help transport the food back to Knox County from Mid-Ohio. 

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