Food & Friends wins $300,000 grant to expand maternal health meals program

Food & Friends secured a three-year, $300,000 grant that will let the Washington, D.C. nonprofit widen a maternal health meals program already built around medically tailored food, referral-based intake and nutrition counseling. The money from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation will support 63 pregnant women facing high-risk pregnancies and food insecurity, along with 16 dependents, and is expected to produce nearly 30,000 meals over the grant period.

The scale matters because the program is not built on generic pantry boxes. Each expectant mother will receive 18 meals a week during the final three months of pregnancy, or earlier if referred, then 12 weeks of postpartum meals and access to a registered dietitian. Food & Friends said the meals and nutrition counseling are free, and eligibility is health-based rather than tied to income or insurance. For families managing a complicated pregnancy, that can mean dinner is aligned with clinical needs instead of whatever happens to be available at pickup or on a doorstep.

Food & Friends said it began serving expectant and new mothers nearly a decade ago. Between 2019 and late 2025, the program reached 2,174 neighbors for maternal health-related needs and 1,009 dependents, a sign that the model has already moved beyond pilot scale. The organization is also expanding services in northern Virginia as well as the broader region, extending a program that sits at the intersection of food access and maternal care.

That overlap is why the announcement stands out to anyone working in food recovery or neighborhood delivery. Food & Friends has said its Food is Medicine approach is designed to improve outcomes, lower the cost of care and improve patient satisfaction. In April 2024, it became the first U.S. agency to earn accreditation from the Food is Medicine Coalition, which gives this maternal health work added weight as a benchmark program rather than a side project.

The organization has previously said meals for pregnant women are intended to reduce risks tied to gestational diabetes, hypertension and preeclampsia. It also pointed to earlier home-delivered meal partnerships that showed early signs of lower readmission rates and reduced risks tied to poor nutrition, food insecurity and social isolation. For hunger-relief groups that depend on volunteers, route coordination and pantry partners, the grant is a reminder that the next level of service often comes from tighter ties to health systems, more disciplined intake and a clearer sense of what outcomes the food is meant to produce.