2006-2007 Annual Report

COMMUNITY HARVEST FOOD BANK OF NORTHEAST INDIANA, INC. 2006-2007 Annual Report ...seeking to alleviate hunger through the full use of donated food and other resources Jane Avery, Executive Director Dear Friends, July 2007 What an interesting and wonderful year Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana, Inc. has experienced since our annual report of last year! We have experienced record donations of food and funds that have allowed us to make more food available to those experiencing hunger and food insecurity in our nine northeastern counties. This has been made possible through the diligent work of our staff, board, member agencies and our donors working together to fulfill our mission of “alleviating hunger in northeast Indiana through the full use of donated food and other resources.” Good work and great results don’t “just happen.” We at CHFB spent a great deal of time in the past year focusing on reviewing our mission statement as well as embracing America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network’s goal of “reducing hunger by 50% by 2012.” In order to achieve our mission and goal, we first had to determine where we currently stand in order to know what we have yet to do. We know that we cannot do this work alone. It takes not only our member agencies, but also the other entities that provide food or another means to bring nutrition to those in need, specifically, the Food Stamp Program. Thanks to funding from the Foellinger Foundation we were able to hire consultants to help us with a strategic and operational plan as well as an evaluative plan to accomplish this task. At this time we’re working those plans and will provide the results in next year’s annual report. What we do know is that we are one of the highest ranked food banks in the country for providing pounds of food per person in poverty. However, that is not good enough for us. We are not only targeting people at the 185% of the federal poverty level but we are also using the Food Pyramid as our target for the types of pounds we provide to hungry people. The Azar Family became a HUGE partner in our mission this past year by donating their former commissary and corporate office site at 1010 N. Coliseum Boulevard as well $200,000.00 in cash to bring the building into a ready state when we take possession and move part of our warehousing operation late in the fall of 2007. This gift will enable us to have more space for not only dry storage but, more importantly, for fresh and frozen foods which are being offered by donors in greater quantities. The total value of this donation is about $1,000,000.00! Community Harvest Food Bank also partnered with a national organization new to this area called Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH). In the 2006 deer hunting season we were given 6,600 pounds of ground venison through the efforts of this group. Furthermore, we are working with the farmer members of this group that want to plant and harvest fresh produce for our Farm Wagon program. People often wonder why anyone goes hungry in Indiana when we are surrounded by farms producing beef, poultry, pork, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, and every other type of food imaginable for our climate. Teaming up with groups like FHFH makes good sense for all involved. It is with great pride that we can report that once again, Community Harvest Food Bank passed its biennial monitoring visit from America’s Second Harvest with flying colors in January 2007. This is a tribute to our staff who works hard to make sure that the food we handle is treated in a professional manner in a food-safe environment. Every staff member that handles food has received their “ServSafe”™ food handling certificate in the past year insuring that our food donations are safe from recovery to distribution. On June 5, 2007 we once again observed Hunger Awareness Day by hosting 300 member agency representatives for a barbeque chicken luncheon at the food bank. Staff and board members made sure that everyone had a good time while listening to Kate Houston, Deputy Under Secretary, Nutrition and Consumer Services, USDA, Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, and Jane Avery talk about the legislative efforts at the national, state and local levels especially as they relate to the Farm Bill which will be passed in 2007. The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), Food Stamps, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) and the Summer Feeding Service Program (SFSP) are topics of interest for everyone concerned with hunger relief. Community Harvest counts on so many people to help us in our hunger relief mission. The charts and statistics provided in this report will demonstrate that our sources of support are broad-based and very generous. Words cannot express our deep gratitude for everyone that supports our efforts. Instead, we will just keep working harder until we can report that our service area is hunger free. Respectfully yours, Jane Avery, Executive Director Kathy Peterson, President, Board of Directors Page 3 97 cents of every dollar helps to alleviate hunger. Revenue & Expense Statement Direct Mail Campaigns 2006-07: Annual Appeal: $209,357 Feinstein Challenge: $33,115.00 SeniorPak mailing: $20,840.00 17% 7% 3% 1% 1% 2% 2% 2% 4% Restricted Income Agency Shared Maintenance Fundraising 20% Donations Perm Rest Endowment Community Cupboard 9% 11% Bequests Grants Commodities Endowment Based Gift CACFP Thank you for your generosity. 14% 7% Emergency Food & Shelter Misc. Income Pur Product Endowment Interest Income Strategic Plan 2006-2008 Adopted July 18, 2006 by the Board of Directors, Community Harvest Food Bank of NE IN, Inc., our strategic plan sets priorities and provides direction for all associated with CHFB. New statements include: Vision Statement: CHFB seeks to be a dynamic, responsive and charitable leader in the effort to alleviate hunger and its causes in our service area. Value Statement: CHFB will +Foster a culture of honesty, integrity, kindness and empathy. +Honor the dignity of all served. +Strive for operational excellence through innovative and creative solutions to end hunger. +Implement fiscally sound and transparent actions that promote solvency and responsible growth. The plan outlines Strategic Goals (areas on which efforts and resources should be focused) and tactical/operational goals (actions needed to achieve the strategic goals.) These provide a tool for accountability for achieving the priorities set by the Strategic Plan. “Thank God; my kids would have gone to bed hungry.” Beth, Community Cupboard Client Strategic Goals 1. Measure and evaluate our visionary goal of alleviating hunger by 50% by 2010. 2. Increase public awareness of and participation in the programs and services of Community Harvest Food Bank. 3. Increase Community Harvest Food Bank‟s capacity for receiving, warehousing and distributing food. Benefits: Increase the amount of food getting to hungry people; Improved efficiency; Improved Member Agencies‟ ability to fight hunger; Increased collaboration. Benefits: Increased accountability; Increased knowledge; Improved focus: Strategic management; Creation of a model for assessment of the hunger alleviation goal. Benefits: Increased public awareness/knowledge about CHFB; Increased awareness about hunger and ways to alleviate it; More committed partners/member agencies; Increased corporate and other funding support. Page 4 Farm Wagon We increased the amounts of fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products distributed to our clients through the Farm Wagon mobile pantry, delivering 2,270,691 pounds for the fiscal year. Rod Wilson of Project Help of Steuben County, Inc. (600 North Williams, Angola) believes that the Farm Wagon„s benefit to the community as a whole is very important. “It gives those in need an opportunity to participate. Besides providing food, it gives people a choice, which in turn helps the community to provide for those who are in need, thus strengthening everyone. It helps get more healthy food to the hungry, and helps their mental attitudes.” Farm Wagon is a convenient way for member agencies to offer a wider variety of healthy food to their clients while at the same time increasing community awareness of our hunger relief efforts. Farm Wagon is on the road six days per week in all nine counties of our service area: Allen, Adams, DeKalb, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wells and Whitley Counties. “It’s the difference between having something to eat or not. My cupboards would always be bare and now there is something on them.” A.H., SeniorPak Client SeniorPak Our SeniorPak has grown in the past year to provide 865 older adults with bi-weekly deliveries of nutritious and dietetically sensitive shelf-stable food. This represents an increase of 9% in the number of SeniorPak recipients. Over last year. Since volunteers provide most of the labor needed for SeniorPak, our greatest expense is food. In the past few years, we have struggled to maintain the consistency and quality of food items offered in our SeniorPak bags due to a continuing downward trend in the amount of donations of nutritious shelf-stable food. So, in this fiscal year we have taken steps to improve the consistency of the nutritional value of our food by establishing a rotating “menu” of items from each of the food groups, and supplement that food with donated items we have in our warehouse. This change has been much appreciated by the recipients, and helps us to better fulfill our mission. Community Cupboard We’ve exceeded the following objectives for Community Cupboard in FY 06/07: Distribute 79,000 pounds per month – a 5% increase over FY 05/06 – Actual pounds/ month: 81,940, a 9.6% increase. Serve 700 clients/month – 2% increase from FY 05/06. (35,894 family members or 2,991 per month.) friendly staff treats our clients very well, with the dignity they deserve as shoppers. We truly appreciate the Spanish speaking staff members to help clients who only speak Spanish. We‟re extremely grateful for the existence of Community Cupboard. Some of our biggest and best praise comes from Greg Manifold, Executive Director of the Aids Task Force, one of our highest volume clients in Community Cupboard.: Our Case Managers have nothing but praise for „the Cupboard.‟ It is a fantastic experience for our clients, giving them a wide choice and great selection of food. The tremendously Page 5 97 cents of every dollar helps to alleviate hunger. Children’s Feeding Programs Our 13 after school programs operated 5 days per week during the 06/07 school year, serving over 2,020 (unduplicated) children this fiscal year. We provided 151,747 pounds of food in 06-07 compared to 128,667 pounds of food through our Kids Cafe® program in fiscal year 05-06. This provided an average of 7,433 monthly meals throughout northeast Indiana, or nearly 61,000 meals for the year through our Kids Cafe program. 2006/07 Fort Wayne Community Schools free & reduced meal rate stood at 56% of the corporation‟s students. This rate has continued to rise 14% over the past 10 years. Our goal for the upcoming fiscal year is to increase by 10% both the number of meals we serve in our Kids Cafe location and to increase by 10% the number of children served there. Thanks to a grant from the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation and to a grant from the Wal-Mart BackPack Grant Program, we exceeded our goal of serving 50 children each week by 40%. The BackPack program has been very well received and brings much needed weekend food to children in need. Also this fiscal year, we were able to expand our Summer Food Service Programs to feed children at the YMCA and United American Hispanics sites. Member Agency Our 460 active member agencies work on the front line to fight hunger. 95 agencies operate after school & youth programs; 133 are food pantries; we serve 14 residential programs; 8 senior programs; 8 shelters; 7 soup kitchens; 14 transitional living facilities, 3 refugee programs, 8 group homes, 2 foster parent programs, 39 day care centers, and 35 “other” programs. 114 of our member agencies refer their clients directly to our Community Cupboard program. “It was rewarding to see clients shop for fresh products instead of the very usual cookies and crackers that many food banks seem to offer most of the time. (Expansion) has also allowed space for a greater variety of food.” Rick Bella, National Produce Manager, America’s Second Harvest - The Nation’s Food Bank Network A big thank you to all who participated in CanStruction 2007, CanStruction was held at Glenbrook Mall, and raised over 48,000 cans and food items. Carroll High School “Most Cans” and “Juror’s Choice” Award winning CanStruction. Beth Bechdol, ISDA Deputy Director presents Jane Avery with an award on Hunger Awareness Day. Community Harvest Food Bank 999 E. Tillman Road PO Box 10967 Fort Wayne, IN 46855 Phone: 260-447-3696 www.chfb.org Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the alleviation of hunger through the full use of donated food and other resources. We collect and distribute over 9 million pounds of donated, surplus food annually through a network of human service member agencies. These agencies offer assistance to hungry people, acting as a safety net to ensure that everyone receives their daily bread with dignity. Community Harvest Food Bank also seeks to increase public awareness and involvement in solutions to area hunger. Jane Avery Executive Director 2007 Board of Directors Officers Kathy Peterson President John Wolf Vice President Shannon McNett-Silcox Secretary Burt Brunner Treasurer Kevin Bleed Matt Brady Chad Doty Laura Dwire Dr. James Edlund David Fee Lucy Gase Phil GiaQuinta Christopher Guerin Ronnie Irwin Robin Newman Michael O’Neil Rosalind Peggins John B. Powell Lydia M. Runge-Quinn Clete Schenkel, Jr. Ed Starks Deb Treesh Jim Zent “My income is very modest, there is not sufficient funds for groceries, meds, etc. They take a back seat without your (CHFB) help.” A.M., Client Azar’s Building Alex and George Azar made the largest ever single donation—a value totaling $1 million dollars-in property and cash. The property, 1010 Coliseum Blvd. N., has been the Azar commissary and corporate offices. It sits on nearly three acres and includes a 7,000-square-foot office building and 26,604-square-foot warehouse, including more than 3,000 square feet of freezer-refrigerator space. The Azar property will be mostly storage and distribution to outlying food banks, which are supplied by Community Harvest within a nine-county area.