Pitch Your Peers, a charitable effort launched here in 2023 by Brooke Bohnsack, has awarded a $35,000 grant to the Springs Food Pantry and a $10,000 grant to Project Most, the organization announced on Dec. 1.
Pitch Your Peers is a group of philanthropically focused women who pool their membership dues and then gather on what it calls Pitch Day toward the end of the year to compete for grants on behalf of community organizations. The members then vote on the winners. The group’s motto, Ms. Bohnsack said, is that “we don’t wait for change, we create it.”
The Springs Food Pantry and Project Most were chosen from a pool of five nonprofits whose representatives competed on Pitch Day. Also represented were Ruta 27, Our Fabulous Variety Show, and the Road Forward Scholarship Fund. In its inaugural year, Pitch Your Peers awarded a $30,000 grant to I-Tri, a sports and empowerment program for girls.
“The collective impact that our members can have together is genuinely inspiring,” Ms. Bohnsack said in an email to The Star this week. “There is so much synergy across all five of the nonprofits pitched, and the connectivity that Pitch Day creates is truly magical.”
Amy Leopold and Kira Brandman represented the Springs Food Pantry on Pitch Day. For Ms. Leopold, it was her second attempt to score a grant for the pantry. Last year, she fell a few votes shy.
“I spent a few minutes talking about the statistics on Long Island for children and food insecurity. There are so many kids out here that are hungry,” Ms. Leopold, who lives in Springs, told The Star. “They can’t do their best at any activity, academically or after school, without proper nutrition.”
Michael Oransky, a chef at Bonfire Coffeehouse who has been a past recipient of help from the Springs Food Pantry, also spoke at Pitch Day on its behalf.
“It’s all emotion. You can look at slides and stats, but he got up there and told his story about how the pantry has always really been there for him,” Ms. Leopold said. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”
Of Pitch Your Peers, Ms. Leopold added, “It’s an incredible organization. I can’t say enough about it. There is so much need out here. This is a powerful group of women who get together once a year and decide where grant money is needed. What can I say? Women should be running this country. There is so much compassion and empathy.”
Holly Wheaton, director of the Springs Food Pantry, called the $35,000 grant “a lifesaver. As we approach the winter season . . . our numbers are increasing tremendously.”
The grant will cover the cost of one whole week’s food bill, which runs about $20,000, and then some. This week alone, Ms. Wheaton said, the pantry will serve more than 350 families, together totaling over 1,500 adults and children in Springs.
For Project Most, which recently began operating affordable child-care services in Montauk and is raising money to build a community learning hub on Three Mile Harbor Road, the $10,000 grant was also very much welcomed. Melanie Hayward of Wainscott, who is on the board of Project Most, championed the cause on Pitch Day.
“We’re extremely honored to be a recipient,” said Rebecca Morgan Taylor, Project Most’s executive director. “It comes at a good time. We’re always looking to add more high-level programming.”
Ms. Bohnsack praised the Pitch Your Peers members who came forward to research and represent charitable causes.
“Their efforts make a significant difference in supporting and enhancing our community,” she said. “While I wish that we had the ability to fund all five organizations, I am thrilled we will be able to provide needed support to the Springs Food Pantry and Project Most. . . . In 2025, our goal is to be able to fund all nonprofits pitched. Challenge accepted.”
