Taste Project

The Arlington Tomorrow Foundation Board of Directors approved three grants totaling $762,500 at its October board meeting.

The Foundation's mission is to contribute to a thriving Arlington by supporting the causes which benefit Arlington's citizens and enhance the natural surroundings and lifestyle of the city. The Foundation most recently approved the following grants:

Taste Project - Arlington Taste Community Restaurant | $750,000

Taste Project and the City of Arlington are partnering to bring the nonprofit's pay-what-you-can community restaurant concept to the heart of Downtown Arlington.

Taste Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping feed, educate, and serve Tarrant County's food insecure residents, has served more than 125,000 diners since its initial Taste Community Restaurant opened in Fort Worth in 2017. The nonprofit is now working to open a second Taste Community Restaurant at 200 Cooper Street, just north of The University of Texas at Arlington, by early 2024.

Like in Fort Worth, the future Arlington restaurant will have no listed menu prices for its healthy, high-quality meals, which are made from local seasonal ingredients. Instead, diners are asked to pay what they can afford, pay what they would typically pay, or pay what they would typically pay plus a little extra to help a neighbor in need. Additionally, Taste Project will offer its farm and garden program and its culinary job training programs that will provide paid work experience for low-income adults and adults with barriers to employment.

"I have always known God's plans for Taste Project are bigger than Fort Worth," said Jeff Williams, founder and executive director of Taste Project. "We could not have asked for a more perfect partner than the city of Arlington and the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation to feed, educate, and serve even more people in our community."

Find out more information at www.tasteproject.org/arlington.

Lucretia Council Cochran Chapter - National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution - Wreaths Across America Honoring Veterans in Arlington | $7,500

The Wreaths Across America Program honors deceased veterans and their families by placing wreaths on their gravesites. Wreaths Across America Day is an annual event held across the country and is scheduled for December 17, 2022. Organizers plan to bring the community together by engaging volunteers from our neighborhoods, UT Arlington, businesses, local organizations, and Arlington residents, to lay wreaths in honor of veterans buried in the Parkdale and Arlington communities. The Lucretia Council Cochran Chapter NSDAR has been serving the Arlington Community for almost 70 years with a focus on historic preservation, education, and encouraging patriotism.

COA Municipal Court - Interest of Justice Appointment Fund | $5,000

The municipal courts in Texas interact with more defendants than any other type of criminal court system. In 2021, 61,588 defendants and litigants completed their cases in the Arlington Municipal Court, and another 52,331 cases were filed that year. The court interacts with a vast array of individuals on all points of the socio-economic spectrum, yet they are the only criminal court system in the state that does not have access to public defenders. The Justice Appointment Fund will provide attorney costs for representation of Defendants demonstrating both cognitive and financial need.

Since its creation, the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation has awarded almost 500 grants totaling nearly $42 million to Arlington nonprofit organizations, City of Arlington departments and neighborhood groups for projects that help the public. To learn more about the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation click here. Connect on social media at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.