Partner Spotlight: Upward Thrive Academy

Since 2010, Upward Thrive Academy, Inc. (UTA)— a 2025 recipient of the NBC Local Impact Grant Award—has lived its commitment to advancing food security, education, and community wellness for under-resourced families throughout southern Maryland. Its reach is deep, its programs and services are broad, and its impact is wide: all amplified by UTA’s relationships with community members and with other mission-driven organizations.

With support from MFB’s Capacity Grant program, as well as fresh food donations, technical assistance, and retail partnerships, UTA has expanded the capacity and reach of its food access initiatives. What began as a small pantry operating from a basement has grown into a 3,100-square-foot facility with a dedicated kitchen and refrigeration space, enabling UTA to operate Neighbor’s Choice pantries, mobile food distributions, and hot meal programs with dignity and efficiency.

UTA now serves approximately 333 households weekly, provides mobile food deliveries to neighbors experiencing homelessness and homebound older adults, distributes hot meals to residents, and supplies weekend backpack meals to students experiencing food insecurity when school meals are unavailable.

Beyond food access, UTA runs a full slate of Youth Health and Wellness programs that foster physical, emotional, academic, and creative growth, including theater, journalism, youth-led media platforms like Get Up and Goal magazine and Upward Thrive 365 Radio, and health initiatives designed and executed in collaboration with the Charles County Department of Health.

UTA exemplifies what MFB seeks in a partner: they offer food and wraparound services rooted in the needs and preferences of Charles County; they meet immediate needs and help individuals and communities create pathways out of food insecurity and toward greater financial security; and they are eager to collaborate—with neighbors, and with other nonprofits. We are honored to work with this incredible organization, and thrilled to see what the future holds for our partnership.