Ten Triangle nonprofits received $50,000 each on Thursday morning for their dedication to improving community health. PORCH, a hunger relief organization in the Chapel Hill – Carrboro community was one of those recipients.
2021 marked the 13th year that the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) honored nonprofits in the Triangle. The funding is unrestrictive, allowing nonprofits to build upon what they have rather than being required to build something new. This year the prize was increased from $40,000 to $50,000.
To qualify for an award, a nonprofit must address at least one of six community health factors: Community Safety, Education, Employment and Income, Family and Social Support, Housing, and Nutrition and Physical Activity.
In the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community, PORCH was recognized with $50,000. PORCH was started in 2010 and has grown to become a monthly neighborhood food drive which supports food pantries across North Carolina.
Debbie Horwitz is a founder and director of PORCH. She said the GSK Impact Award is an incredible honor of the work PORCH has been doing in the community over the past 12 years.
“[It] will be a real shot in the arm for us,” Horwitz said. “It’s wonderful to get funding that doesn’t have any sort of restrictions which will allow us to both increase our programming, expand our programs and also use some of that money to create staff positions that will allow us to be sustainable into the future.”
Erica Henderson is the director of the U.S. Community Partnerships within GSK. She said PORCH’s mission fell right in line with the Nutrition and Physical Activity community health factor.
“We are looking for excellence around that community health factor and PORCH was able to demonstrate that with the programs that they are running around food insecurity in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area,” Henderson said.
Horwitz said the recognition was especially impactful after two challenging years because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased needs of the community.
“The need is still there,” Horwitz said. “We continue to increase our efforts by adding more families to our fresh food program by providing food to 12 area food pantries and working with other nonprofits to connect our families to services that will help them with a variety of needs.”
The other Triangle recipients for the 2021 GSK Impact Award are Boomerang Youth, Communities in Partnership, Durham Literacy Center, Durham Nativity School, Housing for New Hope, North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development, Read and Feed, The Carrying Place and The Hispanic Liaison / El Vinculo Hispano.
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