Reading together, a student with a Books & Breakfast volunteer.
growing organizations, encouraging collaborations
The local organization Books & Breakfast extended its reach through participation in the three-year root2fruit program.
Books & Breakfast was first awarded a root2fruit grants in 2015.
collaborate and innovate
“root2fruit fit us perfectly, helping us with training, connections, and an awareness of the big picture of services in Evanston,” said Kim Hammock, Executive Director of Books and Breakfast. “We have entrenched gaps of services in Evanston, and root2fruit allows for collaboration and innovation to address those gaps.” ECF’s 16 year partnership with the Mammel Foundation supports this grant program for small and midsize organizations that builds capacity and establishes connections among nonprofits.
Marybeth Schroeder, ECF Vice President for Programs, explains, “Through this innovative program, we’ve been able to invest over 1.5 million dollars in promising and vital organizations in Evanston, really helping them grow their ability to make an impact. root2fruit helps them fulfill their missions and make change in the community.“ In this video chat, she shares her enthusiasm about the impact and change that happens when organizations participate in this three-year grant program.
One of 48 organizations that have been a part of root2fruit since 2003, Books & Breakfast grew exponentially in its three years in the program, expanding its breakfast and tutoring programs from one to three schools, more than tripling the number of students served; building a staff and collaborations with partners; and engaging Northwestern University students as tutors. Root2fruit helped them make this progress by supporting their capacity to more than triple the donors supporting their work and triple their budget.
A sign of the health and vitality of this growing nonprofit, Books and Breakfast is the 2017 Wildcat Excellence Award Recipient for Outstanding Community Partnership, which recognizes an outstanding community partner in working with and supporting Northwestern students involved in community service.
Working closely with all the root2fruit organizations, Marybeth Schroeder summarizes, “Once organizations grow their own capacity, those ways to be sustainable over time, they are able to exponentially grow their programming because they have a solid base to do it from. I love working with root2fruit because it is exciting to help build something important that’s going to last.”