Yawkey Foundation Awards $1 Million Grant to Round the Bend Farm!

Yawkey Foundation Awards $1 Million Grant to Round the Bend Farm for Greater Access to Healthy, Local Food to South Coast Communities.

This announcement took place at our November Open Farm Day 2025 where hundreds of folks from our community came out to support.

The grant is in support of Round the Bend's mission to provide equitable
access to education and healthy, locally grown fruits and vegetables for communities across the South Coast. This transformational grant builds on more than a decade of partnership between the Yawkey Foundation and Round the Bend Farm. Over the past ten years, the Foundation has provided sustained support for the farm’s innovative programs and community outreach initiatives, including the Manifest Love food truck, which brings nutritious, locally sourced meals directly to individuals and families throughout the region.

“We are profoundly grateful to the Yawkey Foundation for their steadfast belief in our mission,” said Desa VanLaarhoven, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Round the Bend Farm. “This grant not only supports our ability to grow and share healthy food. It also reinforces the deep relationship and common values between Round the Bend and the Yawkey Foundation - a relationship that’s rooted in a shared commitment to providing education and access to nutritious food, especially for South Coast communities, where funding is challenging and the needs are great.” Founded on the belief that nature, humans, and the spirit are interconnected, Round the Bend Farm combines regenerative farming practices with education, social enterprise, and community engagement. The new Yawkey Foundation grant will strengthen the farm’s capacity to expand food access, enhance farm infrastructure, and sustain educational programs that inspire and nourish people across generations.

“At a time when so many households are struggling with the rising cost of food and especially access to healthy options, Round the Bend Farm stands as a model for what’s possible when sustainability, innovation, and community care come together,” said Alicia Verity, CEO of the Yawkey Foundation. “The Yawkey Foundation is proud to deepen our investment in this vital work, ensuring that nutritious food and meaningful opportunity remain widely available to South Coast families and communities.”
The Yawkey Foundation’s investment underscores its commitment to organizations that create pathways to stability, dignity, and community - principles that have defined the Foundation’s philanthropy for decades.

About Round the Bend Farm
Round the Bend Farm (RTB), a Center for Restorative Community, located in
Dartmouth, Massachusetts, is a working farm and educational non-profit. RTB is a living laboratory that cultivates, educates, and empowers people of all ages. RTB is devoted to the global paradigm shift toward hope and abundance by valuing diversity, modeling nature, and redefining wealth. Learn more at roundthebendfarm.org.

About the Yawkey Foundation
The Yawkey Foundation continues the philanthropic legacy of Tom and Jean Yawkey, who devoted eight decades to supporting individuals and families in need across Massachusetts and Georgetown County, South Carolina. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than $600 million in charitable grants to organizations advancing health care, education, human services, youth and amateur athletics, arts and culture, and conservation and wildlife. Guided by compassion and community, the Foundation remains steadfast in its mission to invest in nonprofits that provide opportunity, stability, and hope. Learn more at yawkeyfoundation.org.