We Make Grants to Strengthen Nonprofits
One 2024 grant recipient’s success shows how your gifts can help us address critical community needs.
In the fight against food insecurity, Amanda Reynolds’ tool of choice is a bicycle. Recognizing that there was nowhere to get a free meal in Dubuque on a Sunday evening, she joined the Urban Bicycle Food Mission as a way to reach those in need. Volunteers deliver meals, often by bike.
“It started out small: 25 meals on the first night,” says Amanda, who joined after Melinda Vize founded the organization. “As we made connections, checked in with shelters, and talked with police officers, we found that the population that needed this was even more significant. We’ve grown to over 200 meals every week.”To grow this initiative, the Urban Bicycle Food Mission applied for and received a Community Impact Grant.
“Strengthening nonprofits is core to what we do. Each organization we fund is doing incredible work, and we are proud to support them and our community,” says Gretchen Corcoran, the Foundation’s grants manager.
The grant has helped the Urban Bicycle Food Mission extend its services deeper into the North End of Dubuque and increase awareness.
Ten days before Christmas, the impact of this new funding was evident, as volunteers filled the Dubuque Rescue Mission’s kitchen to prepare meals. Parents and children filled bags with bagels and snacks, while others cooked on the griddle. Minutes before distribution time, volunteers gathered around a long table to fill and roll burritos.
Late in the afternoon, with the winter sun setting, the volunteers made their way onto the sidewalk in front of the Mission where people waited. A sign showed the next stops on the delivery route as well as the organization’s mission: “Radical compassion … one burrito at a time.”
The Urban Bicycle Food Mission’s growth addresses a critical issue and also highlights nonprofits’ funding needs. In 2024, 45 organizations applied for a total of $720,000 in Community Impact Grant funding, six times more than what was available.
“Every request we received was for a worthy cause,” says Peter Supple, director of nonprofit relations for the Community Foundation. “This grant program addresses an array of community issues while helping close the funding gap and deepen our impact.”