'It's Going To Feed Thousands' - Filling in the Blanks Earns $100,000 IMPACT Grant

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When Tina Kramer and Shawnee Knight founded the nonprofit organization Filling in the Blanks in 2013, their mission was to feed as many children facing food insecurity as possible. 

Fast forward to more than one decade later, and Filling in the Blanks is one of two Fairfield County nonprofits to receive a major grant.

The $100,000 “IMPACT Fairfield County” grant is “a big deal,” according to Knight.

“It’s going to provide 175,000 pounds of food to families, so we’ll be able to do seven additional distributions next year,” she said. “It’s really important to the families, it’s going to feed thousands.”

Kramer, Knight, Filling in the Blanks volunteers, state legislators and representatives from IMPACT attended a check presentation ceremony at the nonprofit’s Norwalk packing and fulfillment center. 

The beloved organization has sourced, packaged and delivered more than 2 million weekend meals to children. 

That caught the eye of IMPACT co-presidents Jenny San Jose and Kristen Rosenbaum. IMPACT encourages women to engage in local philanthropy through deeper knowledge and active participation in grantmaking.

Filling in the Blanks stood out in its application and articulated how responsive the organization is to emerging needs and in finding innovative solutions, according to Rosenbaum.

“They did a good job explaining what the problem was, sharing stories, and then having solutions to the problem by going into neighborhoods with their mobile pantries and turning their distribution center into a farmers market,” Rosenbaum said.