Magic City Harvest received a Navigate Gives Back grant in 2021. Navigate Affordable Housing Partners believes in giving back to the community. Navigate Gives Back began to encourage staff members to become more involved in the communities we serve. So Far, Navigate has awarded $3.1 million to organizations that live up to our vision.
Last year, Navigate awarded $2 million in Navigate Gives Back Grants to organizations across four states.
Magic City Harvest: Humble Beginnings
Suzanne Wright, Executive Director of Magic City Harvest, says the organization began from humble beginnings. The organization started as part of a class at The University of Alabama Birmingham in the early 1990s. Since 1995, Magic City Harvest has recovered perishable food across greater Birmingham. Almost three decades later, the organization partners with 30 agencies across Central Alabama to ensure food goes to those in need and not to waste.
In 2021, the organization collected nearly 400,000 pounds of food that would have otherwise gone to waste. According to Suzanne Wright, that food avoided waste bins and created more than 1.2 million meals for those in need. Furthermore, the agency got a significant boost from Navigate Gives Back. Magic City Harvest purchased a third refrigerated truck with money from a Navigate Gives Back grant. With three frigerated trucks, Wright says Magic City Harvest can collect even more perishable foods to share with those in need.
Navigate Gives Back Grants
The Navigate Board wanted to do more to respond to the social needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic and created the grant process. Organizations that qualify for Navigate Gives Back grants include projects related to food insecurity, housing affordability, rental assistance, and medicine.
The 2022 Application process for NGB grants is now open! Eligible organizations in Alabama, Connecticut, Mississippi, and Virginia may apply through Friday, September 30, 2022. Please visit NavigateHousing.com/NGB to learn more. You can also sign up for email updates here.
