Food And Farm Council Of Riley County & Manhattan

Goal: $20,000.00

Specific Need

Be the Spark Behind a Stronger Local Food System

Support the Food and Farm Council on Grow Green Match Day!

To continue running and growing our programs, we need continual funding for operating costs within our nine programs including:

Staff: Council coordination for all programs, communications, and advocacy
Direct program costs - Examples:
Items for Kitchen Restore kitchen wares starter kits
Blessing Box building materials
Nonperishable food and personal hygiene products to stock Blessing Boxes
Funds for Power of Produce Program kids to purchase produce at the Farmers Market
ChowMatch app purchase and program monitoring for Flint Hills Food Recovery (manages food runs from donor site via volunteer to recipient agency)
PLUS Basics - Examples:
Copies and print costs
Website maintenance
Development time for creating educational and program promotional materials
Volunteer recruitment and coordination
Grant writing support

Your donation helps us sustain the critical work of connecting people to food, reducing waste, and supporting our local food system.

Over the past seven years Nourish Together, the Food and Farm Council of Riley County and the City of Manhattan has become the quiet force helping drive positive change in our local food system — and we’ve done it all without paid staff.

Appointed by the City and County Commissions, and guided by community voices, we’ve worked hard to make healthy, affordable food more accessible, reduce waste, and strengthen local farms and food businesses. We bring together 50+ local partners under one vision — and one name: Nourish Together.

Why It Matters

With your support, we’ve turned ideas into action:

Improved food access & security
Rescued and redirected thousands of pounds of food
Empowered kids, students, seniors, and families
Supported local producers and food businesses
Built a collaborative network of real solutions

All of our efforts are guided by the Master Food Plan — a 10-year roadmap adopted by both the City and County to improve our food system for everyone. But making this vision a reality takes resources, and our work has outgrown our current funding.

We depend on grants and incredible volunteers — and our growing impact demands increased support.

Your Gift Makes Local Change Possible

You’re not just giving to one organization — you’re fueling a whole ecosystem of support through programs like:

Kitchen Restore – Kitchen starter kits for families in need; over 500 kits provided through social service partners to households in need

Flint Hills Food Recovery – 30,000 lbs of rescued food in the past year; over 90,000lbs rescued to date and provided to 12 partner agencies serving neighbors in need

Blessing Boxes – 24/7 access to emergency food and hygiene items; 29 boxes throughout Riley County

Healthy Food Rx – Over $25,000 in produce vouchers redeemed at Hy-Vee and Downtown Farmers Market by those who need it most; vouchers and education offered through six partner social service agencies

Power of Produce –1000+ kids a season are POP Club Market Members, learning to love fruits and veggies & impacting family purchasing; $6000 in produce purchased by kids at local farms at the Downtown Farmers Market last Summer

Senior Assistance – Help signing up for Kansas Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, a vital program to improve access to fresh fruits and vegs

Farmers Market Ambassadors – Making the market more welcoming offering food tastings, guidance with shopping, food assistance program support

K-State Student Engagement – Hands-on applied learning for future changemakers; dozens of students a year work along side our Council

Mission

The mission of the Food and Farm Council is to advocate for and sustain an accessible and healthy local food system.

The Food and Farm Council of Riley County and City of Manhattan assesses needs, connects partners and coordinates solutions to improve food access and security, decrease food waste, and support local farms and food businesses — all to promote healthy living in Manhattan and Riley County. We adopted the name Nourish Together as the umbrella for our impactful programs and network of partner collaborations.

Profile

We Are Nourish Together. And We Need You.

We assess needs. We connect people. We coordinate solutions.
We advocate for a food system that works for everyone.
We do it collaboratively. We do it efficiently.
And with your help — we’ll keep doing it bigger and better.