Grantee Year: 2026

Student Hunger Relief program funds will empower United Food Bank to provide 25,000 nutritious meals to food-insecure students over the next year, ensuring they can focus on learning, playing, and growing.

Funds for the Meals to Grow weekend food program means kids who once spent weekends hungry now open a backpack full of food, hope, and care. To them, it’s more than a meal; it’s a reminder that someone out there cared enough to show up.

Funds for the Sensory Cooking Program: Free Cooking Classes for Youth with Autism will enable youth with autism and other developmental disabilities to participate in free cooking classes, teaching important life skills like independent cooking, food prep, and kitchen safety.

Funds will support the TAYLRD Program Expansion for Transitional Age Youth and allow them to remain fully staffed as they provide housing, mental health, and life skills support to vulnerable youth ages 16–25, helping them build stability, independence, and confidence as they transition into adulthood.

Grant funds for the Rogue Powerpack Program help children in Jackson County access life beyond food insecurity. When students have reliable weekend meals, they return to school ready to learn, play, and grow.

General operating funds will support initiatives including Classroom Innovation Grants, which award funds to teachers to enhance their students’ learning and life skills; a Critical Needs Program that removes impediments to students fully engaging in their education; food boxes during winter and spring breaks; and more.

Funds will sustain their New Futures out-of-school program, providing free academic, emotional, and family support to more than 150 low-income, immigrant, and refugee children and families. This will help students thrive in school, explore new creative and STEM opportunities, and build the confidence to envision brighter futures.

Funds for the Reliable Meals program will allow ROOTS Young Adult Shelter to continue providing daily breakfast and snacks for up to 45 young adults experiencing homelessness each night, sustaining them as they take the first steps on their journey to stability.

General operating funds provide flexibility that is essential to Kandelia’s work with immigrant and refugee communities. Funding will support programs that serve students directly or empower and stabilize their local family support network.

General operating funds will empower them to remain a stable and crucial resource for over 4,000 youth in Salt Lake City, maintaining a presence as a safe and productive organization for youth in the community who need them most.