Updated on October 21, 2025, to reflect the latest information. This post was originally published on October 16, 2024.
Wondering how your donation to The GBU Foundation has made an impact on others? Below are testimonials from some of the previous
Community Grant Award winners.
Organization Name:
The Open Door Pantry
Location:
Eagen, MN
Year:
2025 Community Grant Award Winners
The Open Door Pantry is a fresh approach to ending local hunger through access to healthy food. With the support of the GBU Foundation, The Open Door Pantry has grown significantly to meet record demand. Since receiving this grant, they have expanded from 28 to 35 Mobile Food Program sites, including several new senior living facilities, and increased annual food distribution to more than 4.5 million pounds in 2024—65% of it fresh and perishable. Monthly service has risen from about 16,000 people at the time of their application to over 22,000 today.
"At one of our new senior living Mobile Food sites, a resident picked up a carton of eggs and lit up with excitement. She told our staff, 'I can’t wait to go upstairs and make myself an egg sandwich.' It had been months since she could afford this simple comfort food, and the joy on her face spoke volumes. For her, it wasn’t just about receiving groceries—it was about regaining something familiar, nourishing and dignified. Thanks to the GBU Foundation’s support, seniors like her now have regular access to fresh, healthy food right where they live, restoring both health and everyday joys that many of us take for granted." - Representative from The Open Door Pantry
Learn more about The Open Door Pantry
here.
Organization Name: Casey's Clubhouse
Location: Bethel Park, PA
Year:
2025 Community Grant Award Winners
Casey’s Clubhouse fosters inclusion and connection through baseball and beyond, providing opportunities for individuals with disabilities to thrive. They successfully purchased and installed a new 12x12 lofted storage shed at our complex. The shed was placed on a concrete foundation to ensure long-term durability and functionality. Its lofted design provides additional overhead storage space, allowing Casey's Clubhouse to keep bulky and seasonal items safely organized while maximizing floor space for everyday program equipment. This addition gives them the capacity to expand and enhance our programs for athletes with disabilities.
"The addition of our new lofted storage shed, made possible through the [GBU Foundation] Community Grant Award, has already created a ripple effect of impact. With secure, dedicated space now available, we were able to obtain two additional grants to purchase the equipment needed to fully stock the shed. This means that when we host our next camp, we will be able to double the number of participants we serve. Even more importantly, we will have enough equipment on hand to ensure every participant has exactly what they need, without worrying about purchasing their own. For many families, removing that financial and logistical barrier makes it possible for their child or adult with disabilities to join in. This shed has become much more than a storage space, it is the foundation for growth, accessibility and opportunity in our programs and our community." - Casey's Clubhouse Representative
Learn more about Casey's Clubhouse
here.
Organization Name:
The Little Fox - Toby’s Foundation
Location:
Monroeville, PA
Year:
2024 Community Grant Award Winners
The Little Fox - Toby’s Foundation in Monroeville, PA, supports families grieving the loss of an infant through workshops and weekend grief retreats. The 2024 Community Grant Award has enabled Toby’s Foundation to host two additional retreat weekends, a Grieving Mother’s Retreat and a Grieving Parents Retreat, that were not planned for this year.
“This retreat gave me more than I could have ever thought. Safe and support are two key words I felt my entire stay. But since I have left, I have so much more hope in my life. My life is forever changed. I gained a family. And I’m really hoping to be a close part of the Toby’s Foundation for years to come.” - Grieving Mother
Learn more about The Little Fox - Toby’s Foundation
here.
Organization Name: Light of Life Ministries, Inc.
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Year:
2024 Community Grant Award Winners
Light of Life Ministries is one of the Pittsburgh's primary resources for men, women, and children experiencing homelessness, poverty, or addiction. Their Food Pantry serve low-income residents on the Pittsburgh’s Northside and is a distribution hub for other food pantries/community partners in the area.
The 2024 Community Grant Award enabled Light of Life to purchase high demand food/supplies and items not typically available through our donation process for the Food Pantry. Some items include meat, juice, diapers for infants and toddlers, and supplements and other items designed to support senior health.
The Food Pantry served over 100 families each week on the day we open to the public. 26 community partners came to pick up food to redistribute to the people they serve. Between the public shopping and partners coming for food, the Pantry distributes an average of almost 11,000 pounds of food each week – the equivalent of approximately 9,000 meals!
Learn more about Light of Life
here.
Organization Name:
The ALS Association
Location:
Arlington, VA
Year:
2024 Community Grant Award Winners
The ALS Association (ALSA) helps patients and families cope with the day-to-day challenges of living with ALS by providing information, resources, and referrals to many sources, including a wide variety of community services.
The 2024 Community Grant Award to the Pittsburgh Chapter enabled ALSA to purchase 7 portable power wheelchairs for our loan program. These small portable power wheelchairs are not covered by insurance, so we make them available as part of our loan program. It allows those living with ALS the opportunity to go out into the community, attend family events, as well as medical appointments.
ALSA provided a Literider Envy to an individual living with ALS that was having difficulty getting around independently where he lives. There is limited space, small areas and he needed something that he could maneuver independently. The Literider allows him to attend activities with others in the community, he can pull right up to a dining room table and does not need to get out of the Literider onto a chair which is difficult for him. He also can continue one of favorite “jobs” of watering the inside and outside plants. He puts the watering can on his lap and can move easily around to water the plants without struggling and does not need to rely on others, but can now do it himself. The independence the Literider achieves and the ability to participate in enjoyable activities is the goal of providing this much needed equipment.
Learn more about the ALS Association
here.
Organization Name:
Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh (WC&S)
Location:
Pittsburgh, PA
Year:
2024 Community Grant Award Winners
The Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh (WC&S) of Pittsburgh is dedicated to providing comprehensive support services to survivors of domestic violence (DV) and their children, helping them to navigate through incredibly challenging times.
The 2024 Community Grant Award enabled WC&S to refresh the technology infrastructure within our Children's Advocacy Program (CAP) and Onsite Computer Lab. The Children’s Advocacy Program (CAP) helps child survivors of DV and their mothers to heal from trauma by meeting their basic needs (such as medical care and school access), providing behavioral health services, parenting support, and offering recreation and educational activities.
New computers in the Children’s Advocacy Program (CAP) have benefited survivors as well as staff. The Onsite Computer Lab allows resident and non-resident clients to enjoy a safe space in which to search for housing, work on a resumé, complete job or school applications, or simply keep in touch with friends and family via email or social media. This investment enhances the experience of survivors in completing a variety of tasks that will move them forward in their healing journeys.
For staff, the upgrades have improved workflow, and equip staff to better assist mothers as they need help finding resources for parenting or identifying next steps in enrolling their kids into school.
Learn more about the Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh
here.
Organization Name:
Hopebound Ministries Inc., DBA Mooncrest Neighborhood Programs
Location: Moon Twp., PA
Year:
2024 Community Grant Award Winners
Mooncrest Neighborhood Programs in Moon Township, PA, offers a variety of services to promote spiritual, intellectual, physical, social and emotional development for local children and families.
The 2024 Community Grant Award helped fund a summer camp to keep 75 children engaged, enriched, challenged and fed each day so they could returned to school without “summer slide,” the learning loss that often occurs during summer break.
“Being kind” is an ongoing theme at summer camp. On the final day, a spontaneous act of kindness created a heartwarming ripple effect. Campers prize points for daily reading to select new toys and games at the end of camp celebration. Before awarding prizes, campers played Book Bingo to win books. One of the first winners, a fifth grader, opted to have her younger second grade sister pick her book prize. From that point, without any prompting from staff, every middle school student who won Bingo chose a younger student and escorted their chosen student to the prize table to help them select a prize book. The “Bigs” conspired together to make sure every “Little” was picked. The younger children were honored by the attention from the “Bigs” and with the prize, and the middle school student’s actions provided affirmation to staff that gentle lessons of kindness throughout the summer were heard and put in practice.
Learn more about Mooncrest Neighborhood Programs
here.
