All programs sorted by need met. Click an icon above to skip to its category section.
FOOD
At Eloise’s Cooking Pot, we provide our community with a traditional supermarket experience with one key difference: everything is free. We offer a no-questions-asked grocery shopping experience in which anyone can load the items of their choice into one of our shopping carts and check out with the help of our friendly and respectful staff.
Our backpack program addresses the needs of the most vulnerable population, the homeless youth and adults living on the streets, by providing them with backpacks loaded with on-the-go food, beverages, a can opener, and hygiene items. On average, each backpack pack has 25 lbs. of food and non-food product with 9 meals per pack. Annually, we give away an average of 600 backpacks to those in need.
Our community garden was developed in collaboration with Tahoma Urban Agriculture Guild to provide a stable, internal source of fresh food and herbs for our clients. The garden is managed by volunteers who prepare the land for cultivation, plant seeds, weed the fields, and harvest the food throughout the growing season. Once the food is harvested, it is immediately available for our clients.
Our home delivery program is designed to serve the most at-risk constituency in its target community, and all individuals served by ECP’s delivery program are unable to travel to the food bank because of either financial or physical hardship or disability. Eloise’s is currently the #1 food bank delivery service in Pierce County.
Not only does MADF & Eloise’s Cooking Pot provide families with nutritious culturally sensitive food during difficult times, but we also allow the children to select 3-6 new books each quarter as a part of our Literacy Program. Eloise’s additionally partners with after-school programs and provides healthy snacks to students in the Pierce County as part of our After-School Snack Program.
The Nurturer program offers cooking classes that are designed to empower clients of all ages with the tools and resources needed to prepare healthy and delicious meals even when faced with limited time and budget. This program teaches replication of healthy shopping, cooking, and eating practices using fresh, nutritious food.
With over 120,000 people served in Pierce County, Eloise’s Cooking Pot is a food bank that provides you with the opportunity to collect food that you know will contribute to eliminating hunger for families in your community. You can host a food drive at school, church, the workplace, a grocery store, a restaraunt, facilitated by Eloise’s & MADF.
Each year MADF gives away over 700 Thanksgiving meal boxes to those in need in Pierce County. These boxes are filled with all the traditional holiday trimmings needed for family of four.
HOUSING
The mission of Homes for Veterans is to make a difference, one life at a time, by providing safe, secure and stable housing for high- need veterans with families. We provide a home and a program that supports a new start in life. We support our families with a variety of services that could include budget management, access to community resources and social services. Clients have a opportunity to participate in workshops and classes designed to give them the tools needed to achieve financial stability.
ENCOURAGEMENT
The Joy Box Ministry provides encouraging spiritual gifts to uplift the soul of individuals who are going through challenging times in their life. Each person receives an anonymous box with five personal letters written to them and five wrapped gifts. Each day, the individual is instructed to read one letter and open one gift. The Making A Difference Foundation has sent out over 6,600 Joy Boxes around the world to those in need.
The Joy Box Ministry provides encouraging spiritual gifts to uplift the soul of individuals who are going through challenging times in their life. Each person receives an anonymous box with five personal letters written to them and five wrapped gifts. Each day, the individual is instructed to read one letter and open one gift. The Making A Difference Foundation has sent out over 6,600 Joy Boxes around the world to those in need.
Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) benefit all those involved and the Making a Difference Foundation wants to spread this wonderful message throughout our community. We want to inspire as many people as possible spread love with RAKs. Through this program, we seek to give people the tools and inspiration needed to bring more kindness into the world, providing actionable ideas and documenting some of our own acts of kindness.
Whether it be a life-long dream, an immediate wish, or a renewal of a past experience or passion, we want to provide an opportunity to honor seniors, remind them they are important, and give them the ability to fulfill a dream or wish that they may never get to realize otherwise.
OPPORTUNITY
The MADF believes that education is the greatest equalizer. We make a difference in education by providing scholarships to individuals who are furthering their education. We also partner with schools, non-profits, churches, and other programs by making financial contributions to their educational programs. The Making A Difference Foundation has awarded over 20 scholarships since the introduction of this project.
Edgar Leon Gray was a longtime volunteer with Making A Difference Foundation and served as MADF’s chaplain, providing our staff, clients, and veterans with guidance and encouragement in addition to serving as MADF’s board chairman. Making A Difference Foundation is proud to honor the legacy of Elder Edgar L. Gray with a $10,000 scholarship.
Blair’s Sanctuary Garden is a place for women veterans to grow in serenity, acceptance, peace, and empowerment – without judgment – while raising organic and healthy food for people in need. It is both therapeutic and collaborative in nature where women veterans not only learn about sustainable crop management and growing food organically using true “farm to table” methods, but the provide fresh fruits and vegetables to the community of Tacoma’s east side through MADF’s Eloise’s Cooking Pot Food Bank.
Making A Difference Foundation has teamed up with Wells Fargo to equip our clients with the tools needed to take control of their finances through a series of seminars hosted at our Tacoma office.