FirstEnergy Foundation doubles its hunger grants to $5 million for 140 food banks and pantries
The Ohio utility's foundation announced the grants on Sept. 1 for Hunger Action Month, for groups in six states and the District of Columbia. It does not take unsolicited applications.
Akron. The FirstEnergy Foundation, the foundation of the Akron, Ohio, utility FirstEnergy Corp., said on Sept. 1 that it is giving $5 million to 140 food banks and pantries for Hunger Action Month, twice what it gave last year. The company expects the grants to provide about 15 million meals.
The money goes to groups in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. New Jersey's 25 recipients get $1.3 million, and 29 in Ohio and 37 in Pennsylvania get $1.2 million each. Forty-three groups in West Virginia and Maryland share $1.1 million. Four organizations in Virginia get $125,000 and two in the District $75,000; the releases do not name them.
Grants in Ohio and New Jersey range from $5,000 to $250,000, according to those states' releases. The Pennsylvania release gives two amounts: $250,000 for Feeding Pennsylvania, a network of the state's food banks, and $50,000 for one of its members, the Westmoreland Food Bank in Delmont, presented when company employees volunteered there.
From regional food banks to small pantries
The lists mix large regional food banks, among them the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, the Community FoodBank of New Jersey and the Mountaineer Food Bank in West Virginia, with small pantries, senior centers, family resource networks and ministries. In Ohio, the Akron Children's Hospital Foundation received a grant for its Food Farmacy, which serves income-eligible patient families and hospital staff.
By the state releases' count, at least 28 recipients are new to the initiative: 16 in Ohio, six in Pennsylvania, three in New Jersey and three in West Virginia.
Last year the foundation gave $2.5 million to more than 100 hunger relief organizations through the initiative, which it also called its largest at the time. Counting this year's grants, it says it has distributed nearly $6.5 million in 2026.
“September is Hunger Action Month, but the need for The Salvation Army's feeding programs is year-round. Many of our neighbors are only one job loss or medical crisis away from food insecurity.”
No open application
The foundation funds 501(c)(3) organizations in FirstEnergy's operating area, with priorities in housing stability, hunger relief, workforce development and science, technology, engineering and math. It does not accept unsolicited applications; its page asks organizations with grant inquiries to contact the company's Community Involvement Department, and a request above $25,000 needs a separate proposal and a meeting with the foundation's president.
It generally does not fund government bodies, organizations with substantial public tax funding, schools from prekindergarten to 12th grade, supporting organizations under Section 509(a)(3), animal welfare groups, equipment or capital purchases, salaries or scholarships. Religious, fraternal and similar groups qualify only for programs open to all.
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