Now in its’ second year, program awarded $262K in 2025
MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Kansas Healthy Food Initiative has opened applications for a grant program that awarded more than one quarter of a million dollars last year to support local and regional food systems throughout the state.
Rial Carver, the program director for Kansas State University’s Rural Grocery Initiative, said the deadline to apply for the first round of KHFI’s Predevelopment Technical Assistance grants is Feb. 27.
“Since it was established in 2017, the Kansas Healthy Food Initiative noticed a critical gap for support in the project planning and loan readiness stage,” Carver said. “Thus, the KHFI Predevelopment Technical Assistance grant program aims to support KHFI’s overall mission by addressing this critical funding gap, supporting predevelopment work and preparing projects for future financing.”
In 2025, the grant program awarded nine Kansas projects a total of $262,831 through two rounds of funding. The communities receiving the funding were Wichita, Dighton, Lawrence, Potwin, St. John, McDonald, Mayetta and Sharon Springs.
Clara Misenhelter, a program manager for the Rural Grocery Initiative, said a grant to the Lane County Community Foundation is helping to rebuild the county’s only grocery store in Dighton, which burned down in 2024.
“The predevelopment funds played a critical role in helping us reach (the active construction) stage efficiently and responsibly,” said Casey Venters, the executive director for the Lane County Community Foundation. “These early investments allowed us to complete design coordination, permitting, regulatory approvals, and construction planning upfront, positioning the project to move directly into construction without delays, rework, or unnecessary risk.”
Officials in Dighton say they will rebuild an 8,000 square foot grocery store to serve the area.
Other examples of projects funded by KHFI’s grant program in 2025 include a farmer’s market in Lawrence; food hubs in Potwin and St. John; a new grocery store in McDonald; a market and incubator kitchen in Sharon Springs; a community-owned grocery store in a south-central neighborhood of Wichita; and an effort to implement the food sovereignty program for the Prairie Band Potawatomie Nation in Mayetta.
Misenhelter said that 2025 was the first year of the grant program, though KFHI has existed and has provided other funding opportunities since 2017.
“The Kansas Healthy Food Initiative’s mission is to increase access to affordable, healthy food to improve the health of Kansans, as well as the economic development in their communities,” Misenhelter said.
The need, Carver adds, is high, even in an agriculture-rich state.
“More than 30% of Kansas counties are considered low income and low (food) access areas, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” she said.
Misenhelter and Carver add that rural and urban counties are eligible to apply. More information on the program and links to the online application form are available at https://www.kansashealthyfood.org/programdetails/assistance.
