Community foundation funding helps tackle food insecurity across Stratford, St. Marys and Perth County
- Mar 19
- 3 min read
As rising grocery prices and increasing demand for food programs place growing pressure on local organizations, the Stratford and Perth County Community Foundation is highlighting how local philanthropy is helping ensure families across the region have access to nutritious food.
During Nutrition Month in March, the foundation is drawing attention to the impact of community generosity in supporting food security initiatives throughout Stratford, St. Marys and across Perth County. In 2025 alone, the foundation directed $82,525 in grants toward food-security initiatives, supporting 30 programs delivered by 25 local organizations across the region.
Community foundation acting executive director Rachel Smith said the rising need for food supports is being felt in communities large and small.
“Food insecurity is a growing problem. It’s not just an urban poverty problem anymore,” Smith said. “Rising grocery costs, fixed incomes – it’s being felt in schools, in senior households and in families who never imagined they would need support.”
The community foundation helps address these needs through endowment funds established by local donors. These funds generate annual grants that can respond to emerging challenges in the community.
“We have endowment funds here at the foundation that generate annual grants that can respond to emerging community needs,” Smith said. “We connect donor intent with those emerging needs.”
Three of the foundation’s funds were created specifically to address food-related needs – the Chris Kurz Fund, which supports student nutrition programs; the Teahen Family Nutrition and Wellbeing Fund, which supports student nutrition and wellbeing; and the Florence Kehl Fund, which supports the Stratford House of Blessing food bank.
However, Smith said the response to growing food insecurity has extended beyond those dedicated funds.
“When our grant applications started coming in, we actually only have three funds that go specifically to nutrition and wellbeing,” she said. “But when the fundholders saw this emerging need, that’s what became really powerful – all of those fundholders came together to respond.”
The resulting funding has supported a wide range of programs across the region, from school nutrition initiatives to community food programs.
One of the largest recipients of funding was the Ontario Student Nutrition Program, which provides breakfast and snack programs in schools throughout Perth County, including those operated by the Avon Maitland District School Board and the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board.
“They’re really boots on the ground doing that work in all of the schools across the county,” Smith said. “They do breakfast programs and respond to family needs in the schools.”
Community foundation funding has also supported programs at the St. Marys Friendship Centre, local library food pantries in Stratford, St. Marys, Tavistock and Mitchell, and youth programming at the new North Perth Access Centre.
In some cases, the foundation has supported practical needs such as appliances used to prepare food for youth programs.
To help donors better understand the impact of their contributions, the foundation has also brought fundholders into local schools to see the programs in action.
“We went and visited the classrooms and helped with the breakfast programs, really connecting everybody to that cause and seeing their work in action,” Smith said.
She said Nutrition Month offers an opportunity to highlight both the challenges many families face and the way communities are stepping up to help.
“Food is fundamental to wellbeing,” Smith said. “The good news story here is that local generosity is stepping up in meaningful ways.”
Residents interested in supporting these efforts can learn more about creating or contributing to community foundation funds by visiting the foundation’s website, www.spccf.ca.
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