Have an idea for a community food project? Anchorage residents can apply for funding.

Have an idea for a food project that would benefit the Anchorage community? Local food mini-grants are available for Alaskans who have big ideas with small budgets.

Anchorage residents — both individuals and organizations — can apply for grants of up to $1,000 for projects focusing on food security. The application deadline is Jan. 31.

"The goal of the mini-grant program is to empower Anchorage residents to increase their community's access to fresh, locally grown produce," the project's application page says.

Projects that benefit low-income communities will take priority, said Catherine Kemp, mayor's community liaison with Resilience AmeriCorps VISTA.

That could mean pitching a project in a low-income neighborhood or a community garden that would donate produce to a food bank, Kemp said.

Money can be used for things like supplies but not travel or labor costs, the grant guidelines say.

Anchorage was one of 10 U.S. cities selected to join the Resilience AmeriCorps initiative in 2015. Nonprofit organization Cities of Service gave Anchorage a $25,000 grant, and two Resilience Americorps VISTA volunteers came to the city to help facilitate projects.

Since then, grant money has been used to build greenhouses at local schools and edible landscaping at Fairview Park, and create summer gardening programs for youths.

But now the project is ending, Kemp said, and there's $7,000 in funding left over. So officials decided the rest of the money could be used for mini-grants that give residents the opportunity to do their own projects.

The mini-grant program is a partnership with Cities of Service, the Alaska Food Policy Council and the Municipality of Anchorage .