New Jersey Food Access Security Fund

The NJ Food Security Access Fund (FSAF) is a collaborative effort convened by the Tepper Foundation to address the growing levels of food insecurity in the state. The FSAF leverages philanthropic collaboration and government support to build the capacity of local non-profits to more effectively access existing public and private dollars allocated for food insecurity and to support non-profits to work upstream. Launched as a two-year pilot in 2023, the FSAF is led by The Tepper Foundation and created in collaboration with the New Jersey Office of the Food Security Advocate. This first-of-its-kind initiative in New Jersey is funded by The Tepper Foundation, the Community Foundation of New Jersey, Novo Nordisk, The Taub Foundation, the Grotta Fund for Older Adults, The Campbell’s Foundation, The O’Toole Family Foundation, and Schumann Fund for NJ. The Fund employs a three-pronged approach: a) Grant Navigators and Matching Dollars for Federal Grants – deploys “Grant Navigators” to work with NJ anti-hunger organizations to help them unlock private and public dollars and provides matching funding for government grants that require it; b) Capacity Building and Project Support – provides funding to support projects that strengthen an organization’s ability to work upstream and be better positioned to access government resources; c) Shared Learning & Strategy among philanthropic funders, local and state non-profit organizations addressing food insecurity, and state government to reach greater scale through coordinated action. Schumann Fund contributed multi-year support to the FSAF in December 2023 and holds a seat on its Advisory Committee. In the first half of 2024, the FSAF awarded 16 grants to local non-profits to strengthen the local food ecosystem, including grants to Schumann Fund grantees Ironbound Community Corporation, MEND Hunger Relief Network, and Toni’s Kitchen (Trustee grant) as well as the newly established Essex County Food & Health Equity Coalition.