Give Where You Live

The Independence Community Foundation (ICF) has awarded a $250,000.00 “challenge grant” to St. John’s Bread and Life as it completes renovations on a new, expanded home at 795 Lexington Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The grant, from the Sovereign Endowment Fund at ICF, is meant to help St. John’s raise an equal amount from the Brooklyn community, and bolster the organization’s $10 million capital campaign. Bread and Life has already raised $4.3 million in support of the new building’s improvements, which include a vast, modern kitchen capable of serving 430,000 nutritious meals annually (up from about 330,000), restaurant-style dining area, “client choice” food pantry, library, expanded social service floor, and more.

Said ICF Executive Director Marilyn Gelber, “As reports of food insecurity and outright hunger make news around the world, the staff of St. John’s Bread and Life is addressing the crisis right here, in our communities.

Anthony Butler, Executive Director of St. John’s Bread and Life added: “We’re truly grateful for the steadfast support of The Independence Community Foundation in helping us build a new home for St. John’s Bread and Life. Our new building will allow us to serve many more hungry New Yorkers. We’ll also increase our ability to assist thousands of people working toward greater self-sufficiency, and away from the need for Emergency Food.”