CORA Receives $25,000 Grant

Posted on: May 11, 2021

Each year the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation demonstrates its unwavering commitment to critical community needs. This year, CORA is the recipient of a Ribbon of Hope Grant to address food insecurity and promote the expansion of our Mobile Market with a grant of $25,000. CORA is one of six recipients this year and the fourth Chatham County organization to receive funding in the Foundation’s history.

Since launching the pilot phase of the Mobile Market in October of 2019, CORA has served an additional 178,500 meals to 8,500 people, the majority of whom are new to CORA. The Mobile Market has proven to be an effective model. CORA recognizes the importance of meeting the need where it is and believes it is crucial that we distribute food closer to the families we currently serve, especially those families who find bridging the distance between their home and our pantry to be insurmountable.

To better address the demand for community-based resources, CORA has expanded our Mobile Market to two monthly distributions. One will remain in Siler City and another may rotate to strategic points around the county. Using our truck, we set up the monthly markets to distribute nutritious food to members of our community facing hunger. Each person receives enough food for 21 meals at each visit.

“We at CORA are so grateful for this honor from the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation. Their dedication to working with us to realize a community without hunger is remarkable,” stated CORA’s Executive Director, Melissa Driver Beard. “It’s this kind of commitment to the cause that gives us hope that we will actually end hunger.”