Wyoming Hunger Initiative and Ellbogen Foundation give $117,998 in unrestricted grants to 36 anti-hunger projects
The second round of the Flexible Funding Grant, awarded in September and announced Oct. 6, pays for costs that food money and equipment grants do not cover, such as salaries, rent, utilities and accounting.
Cheyenne. The Wyoming Hunger Initiative, the nonprofit founded by First Lady Jennie Gordon, and the John P. Ellbogen Foundation gave $117,998 in September to 36 applications from anti-hunger organizations across the state. The initiative announced the awards on Oct. 6. It is the second round of a grant meant for the costs that other funding for hunger relief rarely reaches.
The Flexible Funding Grant is unrestricted money for expenses that do not fit the criteria for infrastructure or food, the initiative said. Its examples include salaries, utilities, rent, marketing, help with obtaining nonprofit status, internships, communications, storage and accounting. The grants are intended for one-time or extra costs, and applicants were asked to describe a program or operations need and a solution that requires money.
Who received the money
A committee reviewed the applications. The initiative published the recipients by county but not the amount of each grant. They include food banks and pantries such as Lander Care & Share Food Bank in Fremont County, Thayne Community Food Bank in Lincoln County, Pinedale Community Food Basket in Sublette County and Cody Cupboard in Park County.
Others work beyond the pantry shelf: Needs, Inc. and the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless in Laramie County, the Casper Community Greenhouse Project, the Thermopolis Farmers & Artisans Market, Boys & Girls Clubs of Carbon County, the Youth Alternative Home Association in Uinta County and the Washakie County Senior Citizens Center. In Albany County, Greater Wyoming Big Brothers Big Sisters and Robbie's House were funded. The list also names several churches and church food pantries, a community college food pantry and a school district food pantry.
A second round
The first round, in the summer of 2024, gave $118,400 to 32 applications, according to the initiative's release from that year. The Ellbogen Foundation proposed the grants after the initiative's regional summits, where local partners described needs for which few sources of funding exist.
The initiative began in 2019 as a program of the Wyoming Governor's Residence Foundation and became an independent 501(c)(3) organization on Sept. 30, 2025. It says it is governed by its own board and that all the money it distributes is raised privately.
“Providing flexible funding grants gives organizations the ability to address the needs and challenges they know best in their own communities, making this truly a Wyoming solution to a Wyoming challenge.”
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