Exciting news… with thanks to The Taproot Foundation, we are pleased to welcome a volunteer recruiter to the Step Up team for the next three months (January-April). The Taproot Foundation, a nonprofit working to connect social change organizations with passionate, skilled volunteers for high-quality pro bono engagements, has approved the Step Up for Better Living Corporate Recruiter Project.

The volunteer, who works as an Investment Analyst, will be working with us for three months as a Corporate Recruiter. He’ll work alongside the Step Up Marketing Team to help raise funds from corporations. It’s no easy task… he will build upon our existing donor base, research potential donors, form new donor relationships, brainstorm new fundraising methods, leverage technology and social media, assist in planning and coordinating our upcoming virtual fundraiser, and help promote events and other fundraising pushes. Wow! And all that on a volunteer basis, just to help make a difference… that’s what we call “stepping up!”

This assistance from The Taproot Foundation will be vital as we seek new corporate and business sponsors. As always, all funds raised from corporations will go towards lending a helping hand to those in our community who need it most. We’ll use the funds to provide food grants to local food pantries, as well as direct food grants to individuals.

With the South Bronx in crisis, this work has never been more important. Hunger in the South Bronx was a serious problem even before Covid-19, but the pandemic has made a bad situation worse. Today, almost one third of our friends and neighbors are experiencing harsh food insecurity. That’s 400,000 people who don’t know where their next meal will come from.

In April 2020, we launched the Step Up Emergency Food Fund with the goal of getting food directly to people in need. Since then, we’ve been able to donate $464,500 to nine food pantries that have served four thousand families in the Bronx.

But the crisis is far from over, and our work continues. With help from The Taproot Foundation and our volunteer recruiter, we’re ready to get started! If you work for a corporation, don’t be surprised if you get a phone call or email from us in the next three months… But why wait? If your job has a corporate giving program, you can make a difference today by telling them about Step Up for Better Living. That’s one fewer phone call for our volunteer to make, after all!