Illinois · Nonprofit
GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE
GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE (Illinois) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $166,250 to it, the largest being THE GRAINGER FOUNDATION INC ($85,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $40k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $166k
- Net assets
- $25k
What Growing Healthy People does
Mission
Charitable
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
John r lewis school - greenhouse gardens in waukegan il. Grow 900 lettuce. 120 botany students, 30 autistic students, etc learn to use aquaponics to grow plants. Health nutrition taught. Food provided for low-income families.
$6,662 spentof which $5,750 as grants14% of program spendingHope farm greenhouse grows food year round in aqua/hydroponic systems for food pantry at hope collective in lake zurich il. Systems produce 540 lettuce weekly and up to 3200 lbs tomatoes yearly. Serves 125 families weekly.
$2,679 spent6% of program spendingLake county hs tech campus houses state of art vertical hydroponic systems. Grow produce herbs for culinary program, with remainder donated to low-income community. Educational tours provided.
$33,484 spentof which $30,000 as grants70% of program spendingNorthbridge church consulting project
$237 spent0% of program spendingIndividual contributions are used to help cover overhaead expenses
$4,493 spentof which $4,422 as grants9% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $47,555.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $83k to $25k (−70%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
100% of GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (100% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 4 reported years ran a deficit.
Leadership and staff
Chief executive
Cheryl Besenjak
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income rose $26k → $35k.
From the IRS filings of GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 51% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 95% · 2021 100% · 2022 71% · 2023 100% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
100% of GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE's funding has concentrated — grant income rose while the number of funders held roughly flat.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,510 food & nutrition nonprofits under $100k, FY2025
Organizations like GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE?
- GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE (Illinois) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $166,250 to it, the largest being THE GRAINGER FOUNDATION INC ($85,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $166,250 in grants to GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE?
- THE GRAINGER FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $85,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Growing Healthy People →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2022–2025), and the filings of 3 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing