MAZON is a linchpin of the national anti-hunger movement, a seasoned leader with a finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the field. Investing in local organizations on the ground to maximize their effectiveness, we are making inroads in the fight against hunger from Alabama to Arizona, and Missouri to Maine.
A History of MAZON's Grantmaking: Where We've Been and Where We're Going
For 37 years, MAZON has been a leader in the national anti-hunger field, building consensus among the U.S. emergency food system that structural change, and working toward that change, is a legitimate — and necessary — means of advancing an anti-hunger agenda. MAZON accomplished this not only by providing critical funding, but also by enabling hunger relief agencies to embrace public policy efforts as central to their mission.
Using its platform as a funder, MAZON helped convince an often skeptical hunger relief community that charity will never solve hunger in America. We were a pioneer in educating the anti-hunger community about the federal government’s critical role in ending hunger. In doing so, MAZON built broad acceptance among emergency food providers that ending hunger requires public policy intervention. We continue to empower the hunger-relief community to view policy solutions and systemic change as front-burner issues worthy of investing human and financial resources.
MAZON’s expertise in seeding, supporting, and strengthening the anti-hunger movement has uniquely positioned us to reinvest in ecosystems where populations are most vulnerable and the anti-hunger infrastructures are the most under-resourced. In these communities, MAZON can have an outsized influence, impact, and success in advancing policies to end hunger and empowering organizations to respond to the growing needs in their communities.
Beginning in 2018, MAZON refocused its U.S. grantmaking on states with the highest rates of food insecurity — not coincidentally, these states tend to have fewer organizations and individuals working to address hunger. After extensive research and fieldwork, we identified that the most significant impediment to advancing effective policies in these states is a lack of resources to sustain advocacy staff positions.
Today, MAZON’s Emerging Advocacy Fund invests in staff capacity so our partners have the stability and financial security to leverage their local expertise, taking on new challenges and addressing hunger through advocacy and public policy efforts that achieve long-term, systemic change. Our Quick Reaction Fund also awards one-time grants to enable and empower innovative, rapid-response initiatives that may emerge at a moment’s notice.
Please contact Marla Feldman, Director of Programs, with any questions.
Take Action
Make a gift to MAZON’s Spotlight Fund
Your partnership allows MAZON to be the national Jewish voice dedicated to fighting hunger, particularly for those facing hunger whose struggles are too often over-looked, disregarded, or discounted. Together, we have made a commitment to shine a spotlight on those issues and populations where larger organizations and the government have yet to turn their focus.
Your support of MAZON’s Spotlight Fund helps us fight hunger, particularly for those who are often over-looked, disregarded, or discounted. Together, we shine a spotlight on issues of food insecurity among military families, veterans, Native Americans, single mothers, LGBTQ seniors, college students, and the people of Puerto Rico and the territories. Your gift today strengthens this mission and helps to build a community dedicated to ending hunger for everyone. Join us.
Urge Congress to Reintroduce the Tribal Nutrition Improvement Act
Join us in urging Congress to reintroduce the Tribal Nutrition Improvement Act, which would enable Tribes to administer child nutrition programs in Indian Country and ensure culturally appropriate food. Take action now.
Educate Your Community
MAZON offers a suite of materials to help educate and engage individuals and communities about the scope of hunger and how we can work together to end it. Learn more.
MAZON Makes Emergency Grants to Address Food Insecurity in Israel
In the immediate days following October 7th, MAZON made an emergency investment of $100,000 to support marginalized communities facing food insecurity in Israel. Since its founding nearly 40 years ago, MAZON has been working to address hunger in Israel by advancing responsive, long-term government policies. It leads an anti-hunger policy coalition of 16 Israeli organizations to raise awareness, shape public discourse, and create an infrastructure for policy change.
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