American Red Cross Extends Relief to Resilience Funding with Additional $500,000 Investment
The American Red Cross has approved an additional $500,000 investment in the Relief to Resilience project, extending and expanding the hurricane recovery initiative that has become a model for coordinated disaster food relief in Western North Carolina.
This new funding brings total American Red Cross support for the project to $1.5 million since its launch in spring 2025. The additional investment will sustain operations for the three grassroots food organizations coordinated through the FastRoots platform: Mother Earth Food, Equal Plates Project, and Grassroots Aid Partnership.
What the Additional Funding Will Deliver
The $500,000 extension enables the Relief to Resilience partners to provide over 40,000 additional fresh produce boxes and meals to Western North Carolina communities still recovering from Hurricane Helene. As with the initial grant phase, the project maintains its commitment to local procurement, directing a significant portion of funding back into the regional agricultural economy.
Combined with the original grant's deliverables, Relief to Resilience will have distributed more than 100,000 meals and food boxes across the region while supporting local farms and food producers.
Coordination Drives Impact
The extension reflects the American Red Cross's confidence in the coordinated approach pioneered during the pilot phase. Through FastRoots' collaborative data platform, the three partner organizations have operated as a unified network rather than siloed relief efforts.
"This additional investment validates what we set out to prove," said Matt Corzine, Co-Founder and CEO of FastRoots. "When grassroots organizations can demonstrate their collective impact through shared data and transparent reporting, funders gain the confidence to invest at scale. The American Red Cross can see exactly where resources are going and what outcomes they're producing."
The FastRoots platform has enabled real-time visibility into service coverage across the 12-county region, allowing partners to identify gaps, prevent duplication, and respond to emerging needs as communities continue their recovery.
Building Long-Term Food Security
Beyond immediate meal delivery, the project's emphasis on local procurement addresses a critical dimension of disaster recovery. Western North Carolina's agricultural sector suffered significant losses from Hurricane Helene, and channeling relief dollars through local farms supports economic recovery alongside food security.
The Relief to Resilience model demonstrates how disaster response can transition into sustained community resilience, creating infrastructure and relationships that strengthen regional food systems for future challenges.
About Relief to Resilience
Relief to Resilience is fiscally sponsored by Asheville-based nonprofit Impact Health and coordinates three grassroots food organizations through the FastRoots platform. The project launched in spring 2025 with a $1 million American Red Cross investment to support Hurricane Helene recovery in Western North Carolina.
