Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia is thrilled to announce today that it has received a $10,000 “Fly Beyond” grant from the Wawa Foundation to help provide underserved youth in Coastal Georgia with increased access to more nutritious and healthier meal and snack options.

The Wawa Foundation’s Fly Beyond Key Issue Grants range between $10,000 and $250,000 and are awarded to qualified partners with existing or new programs aligned with this goal. In total, The Wawa Foundation is awarding $1.5 million to 25 Fly Beyond Key Issue Grant recipients as part of a set of signature initiatives to make more fresh, nutritious meals available to youth and families through its food bank partners.  

“Second Harvest is thrilled to welcome Wawa to the Coastal Georgia market.  We look forward to the continued sponsorship with The Wawa Foundation that will help us to provide even more fresh nutritious meals to children facing food insecurity.  Second Harvest distributes over 830,000 meals each year through its Kids Cafe program.  This grant will allow us to grow our capacity to serve even more children,” said Mary Jane Crouch, Executive Director at Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia.

As a current community partner nonprofit of The Wawa Foundation, who is part of the Feeding America food bank network and a future Check-Out Hunger food bank partner of The Wawa Foundation, Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia applied for a Fly Beyond Key Issue Grant during the March application period. The Wawa Foundation reviewed proposals and awarded grants based on fit within Fly Beyond criteria and goals, program reach and impact, and size of Wawa market served.

“The Fly Beyond key issue grant is a significant effort to fight food insecurity in our communities and will focus on programs emphasizing that good, nutritious food can build healthy habits, support the success of students and help them thrive,” said Elizabeth Simeone, President of The Wawa Foundation. “We were thrilled to support Second Harvest as they work to provide consistent access to nutritious and healthy meals for kids. By supporting these programs and our partners, we hope to inspire others, raise awareness and reach more youth to achieve their greatest potential. We are very excited to begin to share our Fly Beyond mission with our newest Food Bank partners in the Midwest as we begin our expansion to these new markets.”