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Grant writer's a two-way winner ACCESS got funds; Wray got an award A successful grant proposal earned ACCESS Inc. $250,000 for a community kitchen project and earned the grant writer national recognition. Tanya Wray wrote the grant proposal that earned ACCESS the award from Meyer Memorial Trust in October. This month she was named the winner of a grant-proposal writing contest sponsored by The Grantsmanship Center Institute, based in Los Angeles. Wray's entry took top honors in the category of "Proposals for Foundation Funding," and was among more than 300 entries reviewed by judges. Her proposal may be included in a future publication by The Grantsmanship Center, according to Philip Yates, resource development manager for ACCESS. Wray, 25, has written seven successful grant proposals for ACCESS and has been a key player in the community action agency's efforts to raise nearly $2 million for the community kitchen, Yates said. To date the agency has raised $681,000 for the project. The kitchen will provide a central cooking and distribution source for meals delivered through the Loaves & Fishes program and to 10 meal sites open to seniors in the area. It will also serve meals for other non-profit agencies and provide a center for a food-recovery program in which food destined to be discarded from stores and restaurants will be repackaged and flash frozen for later distribution. ACCESS also operates food pantries throughout Jackson County. "It makes my job easy," Wray said, "to write a good grant and easy to sell a project that is such a benefit to the community." In all, Wray said, the kitchen would serve an estimated 43,000 people annually. Wray, described by Yates as "the woman who couldn't fail," has worked for ACCESS and two other agencies for two years as an Americorps volunteer. In January she was hired full-time by ACCESS to continue with grant writing and research and development projects. Wray graduated from Southern Oregon State College in 1996 with a degree in anthropology. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA