MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger

What We Fund

MAZON brings nearly 25 years of effective, strategic grantmaking to the fight to prevent and alleviate hunger in the US and abroad.  We award grants totaling over $4 million to more than 300 organizations each year. Grants are awarded principally in the United States, though we also support vital hunger-relief efforts in Israel and impoverished countries around the world.

For a full list of recent grantees, download our 2008 Annual Report.

Funding Priorities and Philosophy

MAZON funds virtually every aspect of this nation’s anti-hunger community. Among its many projects, MAZON grants have supported:

• distribution of millions of pounds of food by rural and urban food banks;
• food pantries struggling to meet increasing emergency food demand;
• home-delivered meal programs tailored to specific nutritional needs, such as those of low-income seniors or people living with HIV/AIDS

At the same time that it works to help meet emergency need, MAZON has always known that the private charities it supports cannot end hunger on their own.  Therefore, MAZON’s largest grants go to organizations working for longer-term solutions to ending hunger. These might be grants to organizations working to improve the reach and effectiveness of government food assistance programs (such as food stamps, WIC and child nutrition programs), or those providing the kinds of counseling, assistance and training that increase the self-reliance of low-income people.

And that’s why we require all MAZON grantees to demonstrate a strong commitment to doing more than distributing food. Our support of anti-hunger advocacy organizations and our promotion of advocacy activities among direct-service providers are central to our efforts to strengthen the anti-hunger movement.

A Jewish Response to All Who Are Hungry

Grants are provided to many organizations serving the Jewish poor. However, in keeping with the best of Jewish tradition, MAZON responds to all who are in need. Applications from organizations that proselytize, impose any sort of religious requirement or discriminate in any way against clients will not be considered.

What MAZON Does Not Fund

Although we recognize their importance, we are not able to fund the following types of programs:

• organizations that have a substantial direct relationship with the public, meaning that they are so well known nationally or in their community that they have significant direct access to individual Jewish contributors. MAZON reserves the right to determine which organizations fall into this category;
• special holiday meals programs, including those at Thanksgiving or Passover, or once-a-week food programs, such as Shabbat meal deliveries;
• organizations/projects focused principally on preventing homelessness;
• organizations that charge individuals for food, including SHARE programs;
• government entities or professional associations;
• job-training programs;
• organizations whose principal function is grantmaking;
• capital campaigns;
• documentary film projects.

MAZON also does not:

• provide grants to individuals;
• accept proposals from organizations that do not follow our application procedures;
• provide renewed funding to past grantees that have not met our reporting requirements or satisfactorily completed the terms of past MAZON grants;
• accept more than one proposal at a time from the same organization.