Kennett Area Community Service wins prestigious Barra Award

The Barra Foundation has announced that Kennett Area Community Service (KACS) is a recipient of a 2018-2019 Barra Award. KACS joins 43 exceptional nonprofit organizations in the Greater Philadelphia region that will each receive $50,000 in grant funding. Barra Awardees are nominated by their peers in the social sector and are then invited to submit an application to the Foundation. The application questions focus on the organization’s leadership, performance and adaptability.

“We are so excited to have been chosen for this grant opportunity. Our leadership team has been focused on taking our Kennett Food Cupboard program to the next level by working on the task of poverty reduction. Not only do we have the opportunity every day to end food insecurity, but we can also use that connection to begin the journey with our families to achieve economic mobil-

ity. Support from the Barra Foundation allows to do just that, to make every relationship count,” said KACS Executive Director, Melanie Weiler.

In line with the Foundation’s mission to invest in innovation in the social sector, the Barra Awards provide unrestricted funding and introduce awardees to a diverse network of social sector leaders. “Without unrestricted capital, nonprofits have little margin for error or appetite for innovation. Through the Barra Awards we hope to provide organizations with some financial breathing room and their leaders with opportunities to learn from their peers — a diverse and inspiring network of entrepreneurial thinkers from across the nonprofit sector,” said Kristina Wahl, president of The Barra Foundation.

Since its 2013 inception, the Barra Awards has granted more than $6 million to area nonprofits. Awardees represent a range of nonprofits from the Arts and Culture, Education, and Health and Human Services sectors in the Greater Philadelphia region.

The Barra Foundation invests in innovation to inspire change that strengthens communities in the Greater Philadelphia region. Through its Catalyst Fund and Barra Awards, the Foundation provides approximately $4 million in annual grants that are focused on supporting innovation in and across the fields of Arts & Culture, Education, Health and Human Services.