Service! Relief and Motherful Awarded $50,000 Flourish Grant to Enhance Community Support Initiatives
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Audrey Minor
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For Immediate Release
Service! Relief and Motherful Awarded $50,000 Flourish Grant to Enhance Community Support Initiatives
The local nonprofits use the grant to supply and deliver meals to single mothers in central Ohio.
COLUMBUS, OH (August XX, 2024) — Service! Relief, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and empowering hospitality workers, in collaboration with Motherful, is proud to announce the receipt of a $50,000 grant from the City of Columbus' Flourish program. This funding is part of a broader initiative by the Department of Development to foster innovative partnerships within the local nonprofit sector.
The grant supports the joint mission of Service! and Motherful to provide vital resources to single mothers in the local community. With Service’s expertise in meal service, they are collaborating with Motherful to launch this new social initiative to address meal support for single mothers within their collective.
As part of the partnership, Service! has been guiding Motherful in the operations of food delivery services, helping them scale and implement sustainable practices. With this training, Motherful delivers approximately 120 meals weekly to single mothers and their families.
“We are thrilled to be able to use this grant from the City of Columbus and partner with Motherful to support single mothers and their families,” said Sangeeta Lakhani, Executive Director and Co-founder of Service! Relief. “By sharing our expertise in meal delivery service, we are helping to create a sustainable social enterprise that will benefit the community and empower single mothers in central Ohio.”
Motherful, a grassroots collective of over 600 single mothers, has long aspired to offer prepared meals to families in their collective, many of whom struggle with time and resources to cook despite access to groceries. With the guidance of Service!, they are able to launch this program with hopes of creating a larger social enterprise that employs single mothers, offering a buy-one, give-one meal model.
“We’ve dreamed for years of building a social enterprise to help more single mothers and their families,” said Heidi Howes, co-founder and co-director of Motherful. “Thanks to Service!’s mentorship, we’re finally able to make that dream a reality. We anticipate a full public launch in 2025, offering prepared meals to single mother families and creating opportunities for employment within our community.”
The Flourish grant program aims to support organizations engaged in meaningful partnerships that promote innovative solutions to community challenges. Service!’s and Motherful’s partnership exemplifies this goal, as both organizations work together to provide critical resources and support to single mothers and their families.
For more information about Service! Relief and Motherful, please visit their websites at www.servicerelief.org and www.motherful.org.
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About Service
Service! was founded in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown to help service and hospitality industry workers. Service! remains dedicated to the advocacy, recognition, and economic relief of hospitality workers in Central Ohio. The organization's diverse programs—from educational and training opportunities to economic relief efforts—aim to strengthen the workforce and foster a sustainable restaurant community.
About Motherful
Motherful is a grassroots collective of over 600 single mothers. The organization is dedicated to building solidarity among single mothers by providing community support, resources, and innovative solutions.
