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Bread for the City (BFC), a direct service non-profit in the nation’s capital, will serve 15,000 DC families through its annual Holiday Helpings program this season. An almost 30-year tradition, Holiday Helpings runs through November and December each year and, prior to the pandemic, provided families with their holiday turkey or ham and all the trimmings. In 2020 and 2021, the program pivoted to provide direct cash giving through debit cards in order to offer flexibility and choice to families struggling during the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Watch the Holiday Helpings Halftime Show Live, hosted by Poet Taylor from WPGC 95.5. Sponsored by PepsiCo and Amazon. Click here to watch! It’s featuring Friendship Public Charter School marching band, a performance from Mark The Keep and Yearby B, client features, and live interviews with Bread for the City CEO George Jones and Vice President of External Affairs for PepsiCo Kenny Thompson, Jr. It’s hosted by Poet Taylor from WPGC 95.5. #HH2021

#GivingTuesday at Bread for the City starts now! All donations made now through the end of #GivingTuesday will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000 by our generous board member Kate Toomey. Don’t miss this opportunity to double your impact this #GivingTuesday and ensure not a penny of Kate’s match goes to waste!

Behind the Scenes of Holiday Helpings is about giving our supporters an update on the progress we’ve made and what our goals are.

Every day, volunteers help Bread for the City keep running. But it’s not everyday that we have volunteers paint the entire exterior of a building! However, on June 8,  Bread for the City’s long-time Corporate Partner, MCN Build volunteered to paint the outside of our old Southeast Center to improve its appearance. Nearly 20 volunteers worked outside in almost 90 degree weather for 5+ hours. This was a great opportunity for a community service project by the MCN Build Foundation, which resulted in getting a fresh new look to our facility. 

We, the undersigned 33 organizations are writing to ask you to use reserves, underspending from government agencies, and/or other funds not dedicated to help DC residents living on low incomes meet basic needs (including but not limited to affordable housing efforts) to provide eviction prevention funding. The stakes are too high to shut down our eviction prevention efforts now. We estimate the unmet need for rental arrears is approximately $74.9 million, and we ask you to identify at least this much funding to meet this need as well as the need for utility arrears which we are not able to estimate.

Bread for the City and Children’s Law Center co-hosted this event to discuss their respective legal services work East of the Anacostia River and the importance of pro bono in serving D.C. neighbors.

Bread for the City (BFC) is excited to announce its annual Holiday Helpings program, a nearly thirty-year tradition that supports area DC families in need through the holidays. Last year, the program transitioned from its tradition of giving out turkeys and other staple holiday food items to embrace a necessary direction to better support over 16,000 DC households by providing critical monetary resources.  In alignment with last year’s progression, BFC will work this year to increase its support in communities hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.