09/02/2026
Illinois 4-H offers a Food Advocacy Grant every year! Club leaders, teachers, coaches, etc are welcome to apply! You do not have to be in 4-H to receive the grant, you just have to have the desire to help fight food insecurity in our community!
1. Applications Open Until September 30: Applications can be filled out by 4-H youth, club leaders, 4-H staff, or partners. We ask that project leaders communicate with local 4-H staff so that you are aware of their project and you can have some initial conversations in case they are accepted. If you don't have the capacity locally to support the project, that's a good opportunity to reach out to me and see what we can do to support the idea.
a. Note: It is the project lead's responsibility to reach out to local 4-H staff about their application. They are required to submit a form for local 4-H staff to fill out in order for the project to be considered. This is aimed at preventing any surprises and avoiding creating extra work for y'all.
2. Projects announced by October 9th via email: Acceptance announcements will be sent via email to the project lead and local 4-H staff with some accompanying documents. We will request confirmation of the funding with the intention to complete the project within all the guidelines within two weeks. This will be a good time to communicate any questions or concerns you may have to me directly so as not to slow down the funds transfer process later on.
3. Funds Transferred from State Office to Local Offices: Once the project has been accepted, your Unit will receive a request for additional information from Mary Turngren in the State 4-H Office. Once we have that information, we will transfer funds to your Unit office for you to utilize in purchasing the required supplies/materials for the service project. The goal of this is to allow local staff the opportunity to weigh in on the project with the goal of ultimately strengthening the local 4-H program and building new leaders.
4. Projects Completed by Deadline: Deadlines for completion will be communicated in the acceptance letter. Should an extension be required, those can be communicated to me via email and will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
5. Reporting Process: Reporting links will also be sent out for project leads to submit data, photos, testimonials, and feedback so we can tell the story of your success to the rest of the state.
