1 Greater Cleveland Food Bank | 2013 Annual Report
2
We didn’t become Northeast Ohio’s largest hunger relief organization by hanging onto antiquated notions of feeding communities. We don’t serve 40 millions meals annually from a stockpile of cans. We don’t reach 330,000 people by having them wait in line. We don’t settle for stale thinking. We at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank believe in fresh. In 2013 we made a series of changes that revived our organization, inside and out. From the food we serve to the methods in which we reach our communities, we are always striving to improve our efforts, and we aren’t
afraid to try new things in order to achieve our goals. We are proudly entering 2014 with a fresh look, fresh food and most importantly a fresh wave of determination.
3
4
We didn’t become Northeast Ohio’s largest hunger relief organization by hanging onto antiquated notions of feeding communities. We don’t serve 40 millions meals annually from a stockpile of cans. We don’t reach 330,000 people by having them wait in line. We don’t settle for stale thinking. We at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank believe in fresh. In 2013 we made a series of changes that revived our organization, inside and out. From the food we serve to the methods in which we reach our communities, we are always striving to improve our efforts, and we aren’t
afraid to try new things in order to achieve our goals. We are proudly entering 2014 with a fresh look, fresh food and most importantly a fresh wave of determination.
5
Our Mission
6
Working to ensure that everyone in our communities has the nutritious f ood they need every day.
7
PROUD TO SERVE It might be hard for you to imagine what it is like to stand in line at a soup kitchen, to not know where your next meal will come from or where to turn for assistance as you strive to support your family. It might be harder still to imagine that anyone can be impacted by hunger. One in six Ohioans struggle to put food on the table. These are our neighbors, co-workers, and friends—maybe even our family members. The issue of hunger is a big one, and we know that it’s going to take the entire community at the table to solve it.
Our deepest gratitude goes out to everyone who advocated, contributed funds, donated food and volunteered to help us this past year. The fight continues and we won’t rest until everyone is fed. We hope you won’t either. For every child going to bed with a full tummy because of the backpack they received, or the warm meal they ate at Kids Cafe – thank you. For every senior heating their home, taking their medications and eating a nourishing meal without having to choose one option over another – thank you. For everyone who received food from a local food pantry, mobile pantry, soup kitchen or shelter - thank you.
For more than 30 years, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank has been there for hungry people in Northeast Ohio. From emergency food to SNAP outreach and nutrition education, people from various backgrounds have counted on us as their lifeline during tough times. Last year alone, we made possible nearly 40 million meals, our largest year-to-year increase to date.
As proud as we are of our accomplishments to date, we realize there is still a lot of work to be done to achieve our goals. With this in mind, we continue to focus on excellence and innovation in our programming and outreach efforts. We are indebted to the continued support of our community partners. Working with our member agencies, we are a lifeline to thousands of men, women and children in our service area. We are an organization doing something great—and striving to do something even greater. Thank you for joining the fight. We are proud that the families and communities we serve are not in this alone.
We continue to provide four meals for each dollar raised. We are well on our way to completing our cold storage expansion, which will more than double our capacity for more fresh produce and protein. We fed more than 8,000 children through our kids programs. Increased our fundraising allowed us to expand our programs. But we didn’t accomplish these goals alone. We are only able to share these positive achievements because of the support from our generous community.
Anne Goodman | President & CEO
8
9
PROUD TO SERVE It might be hard for you to imagine what it is like to stand in line at a soup kitchen, to not know where your next meal will come from or where to turn for assistance as you strive to support your family. It might be harder still to imagine that anyone can be impacted by hunger. One in six Ohioans struggle to put food on the table. These are our neighbors, co-workers, and friends—maybe even our family members. The issue of hunger is a big one, and we know that it’s going to take the entire community at the table to solve it.
Our deepest gratitude goes out to everyone who advocated, contributed funds, donated food and volunteered to help us this past year. The fight continues and we won’t rest until everyone is fed. We hope you won’t either. For every child going to bed with a full tummy because of the backpack they received, or the warm meal they ate at Kids Cafe – thank you. For every senior heating their home, taking their medications and eating a nourishing meal without having to choose one option over another – thank you. For everyone who received food from a local food pantry, mobile pantry, soup kitchen or shelter - thank you.
For more than 30 years, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank has been there for hungry people in Northeast Ohio. From emergency food to SNAP outreach and nutrition education, people from various backgrounds have counted on us as their lifeline during tough times. Last year alone, we made possible nearly 40 million meals, our largest year-to-year increase to date.
As proud as we are of our accomplishments to date, we realize there is still a lot of work to be done to achieve our goals. With this in mind, we continue to focus on excellence and innovation in our programming and outreach efforts. We are indebted to the continued support of our community partners. Working with our member agencies, we are a lifeline to thousands of men, women and children in our service area. We are an organization doing something great—and striving to do something even greater. Thank you for joining the fight. We are proud that the families and communities we serve are not in this alone.
We continue to provide four meals for each dollar raised. We are well on our way to completing our cold storage expansion, which will more than double our capacity for more fresh produce and protein. We fed more than 8,000 children through our kids programs. Increased our fundraising allowed us to expand our programs. But we didn’t accomplish these goals alone. We are only able to share these positive achievements because of the support from our generous community.
Anne Goodman | President & CEO
10
11
1= 4
$
MEALS
12
A donation of one dollar can provide four meals for hungry people in our communities.
13
40
40 Million Meals Provided in 2013
14
15
40 40 Million Meals Provided in 2013
16
17
40 40 Million Meals Provided in 2013
18
19
2013 BY THE NUMBERS Pounds of Nonperishable Food Distributed
From Private Donors From the United States Department of Agriculture From the State of Ohio Total
$6,568,283 $7,914,286 $1,653,077 $16,135,646
Pounds of Fresh Produce Distributed
From Private Donors From the United States Department of Agriculture From the State of Ohio
$7,597,729 $584,000 $4,235,690
Total $12,417,419
Pounds of Prepared Meals Pounds of Perishable Food Pounds of Purchased Food
Total Pounds of Food Distribution
Total Meals Provided via Food Total Meals Provided via SNAP Total Meals Made Possible
$1,493,388 $1,133,985 $5,464,372 $36,644,810
$30,537,341 $9,314,492 $39,851,833
Monetary Value of Food Distributed
$52,134,210
Member Programs Food Industry Donors Volunteers Financial Donors
$776 $360 $11,249 $42,293
Harvest for Hunger Campaign Donations* General Operating contributions and grants Total funds raised
$3,036,640 $7,148,741 $10,185,381
*Funds donated to the Cleveland Food Bank through the 21-county campaign
20
$39,851,833 Total Meals Made Possible
21
The Greater Cleveland Food Bank recently completed a new marketing plan to align with our strategic goals as an organization. Part of this marketing plan included a name change and new logo. The fresh identity, designed to be used and maintained across all aspects of the organization, better reflects the work we do as the largest hunger relief
organization in Northeast Ohio. We feel that our new look will further engage the general public and potential donors and volunteers.
22
OLD LOGO
NEW LOGO
23
24
Meet
Francisco
Age: 9 | School: Urban Community School on Cleveland’s west side Favorite Subjects: Math and reading | Dream Job: President of The United States
Francisco lives with his mother and spends time with his grandparents, who live across the street. You wouldn’t know it from his gregarious spirit and unfading smile, but Francisco doesn’t always have enough to eat. His mother often has trouble stretching her paycheck to cover all their needs, and his grandparents are on a small fixed income. Each Friday, he’s able to take home a backpack full of nutritious, kid-friendly meals through BackPacks for Kids, a Greater Cleveland Food Bank program at his school and 38 others across our service area.
"The kids know they can count on this food", she says. "They feel loved — there’s someone out there who they don’t know who cares about them." ”
“They feel loved — there’s someone out there who they don’t know who cares about them’’ Francisco understands that his mom and grandparents don’t always have money to buy him food, and he feels proud that he can contribute to his family by bringing home the backpack each weekend. He’s so thankful that you choose to give.
Children from 100 families at Francisco’s elementary school receive backpacks of food each week, and the faculty and staff say they see a marked improvement in the attitudes and performance of those who participate in the program. Julie Babcock is a Kindergarten teacher at the school, and she says the weekly backpacks give students confidence because they can rely on them when life outside of school feels unstable.
"Thank you for the food! He says. It’s nice for you to give the food. It helps my mom a lot. Francisco is on the road to achieving his dreams because of your compassion. Thank you for sharing what you have with students in need!
25
Kids Programs The Children’s Nutrition Initiative
Summer Food Service Programs (SFSP)
These programs provide a safety net for food insecure children, like Francisco, in the evenings, over weekends and during summer vacations, when free or reduced priced school meals are unavailable. In 2013, more than 8,200 children were served through this program. Nutritious food is the most basic of human needs, and without regular access to it, hungry children are at risk of serious health issues.
We provided over 170,000 meals to students during the summer months at community centers and other agencies. In 2013, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank is partnered with 42 summer feeding sites to provide lunch and, in some cases breakfast, each day.
BackPacks for Kids The Food Bank provided enough food for over 566,000 meals in 2013. At the end of each week, food was delivered to children in need to travel home discreetly in their backpacks for use over the weekend, when they do not have access to free or reduced price meals at school. Each child receives enough food for six full meals, including items such as cereal, a protein source such as tuna fish, beef stew, or peanut butter, canned vegetables and fruit, soup, juice boxes and a snack such as peanut butter crackers or yogurt snacks. The backpacks were also used as a medium through which nutrition education was shared with the children’s parents, helping to reinforce healthy eating habits at home.
Kids Cafes Just over 280,000 meals were served through Kids Cafes. The Food Bank provided a daily late afternoon or evening meal and regular nutrition education activities to at-risk youth at member agency sites after school. To ensure that the children—who are often more selective eaters than many adults—are eating the foods we provide, the Food Bank uses a dietician to help make sure that the kid-friendly meals our staff and volunteers create are appealing and also meet standards for healthy eating for youth.
26
27
28
Meet
Luke & Katie Married: 58 years | Occupation: Retired | Family: Grandparents
For senior citizens living on fixed incomes, winter can be an especially difficult time. As temperatures drop, heating bills escalate, often cutting into budgets for food and medicine. It’s a sad reality that men and women who’ve worked hard their whole lives face uncertainty and financial challenges in their golden years. That’s definitely the case for Luke and Katie.
to help pass out the food to the hundreds of people who come for help — many of them senior citizens like her and Luke.
“We can eat healthier’’ And when the distribution is over, Katie and Luke get to take home the same fresh produce she helps give away. They especially love to get potatoes, corn, green beans, onions and leafy greens. This fresh produce has greatly improved their quality of life.
Luke and Katie met and married as teenagers — 58 years ago — and they’ve been in love ever since. Together they bought a home, raised a family and grew old. Luke retired from his job as a scale operator a few years back and the couple now lives on his social security income. They live simply and buy only what they need. But even as frugal as they are, they can’t always afford to buy the nutritious food – especially fruits and vegetables – that will help keep them healthy.
"We can eat healthier", says Luke, with gratitude. "It’s really nice." Because of your support that provides them with free produce, Luke and Katie can be more active and they say they rarely get sick anymore.
Thankfully, their church, Calvary Hill Baptist Church in Cleveland, hosts a weekly Greater Cleveland Food Bank produce distribution. Katie volunteers
29
Additional Programs Greater Cleveland Food Bank Kitchen
Nutrition Initiatives
Our kitchen sites prepare complete meals for organizations, such as hot meal programs, that lack the resources or staff to prepare meals at their own facilities. Our staff worked throughout FY2013 to ensure that the meals we distribute are as nutritious as possible. We made several changes to our menu to ensure it be as nutritious as possible, such as: switching our gravies and sauces to all be low sodium, which dramatically reduces the amount of sodium in our senior and kids prepared meals; adding more variety of vegetables; eliminating much of our red meat by substituting with ground turkey or chicken products to reduce the amount of saturated fats and cholesterol in our meals; serving a piece of fresh fruit with every meal; limiting our desserts to 200 calories per serving; and encouraging all of our sites to include water at all of their meals instead of soda or high caloric beverages. On average, we distribute over 7,000 meals per day through the Kitchen.
Gone are the days of food banks only serving canned, nonperishable items. We place heavy value on nutrition, and a crucial element to good nutrition is fresh foods. Through our Fresh Produce Initiative, we have worked with hundreds of food donors to increase the nutritional value of the food we distribute. Free, fresh fruits and vegetables were distributed to 755 sites through our Mobile Pantry program during the times they normally serve clients. This past year, the Food Bank distributed 12.4 million pounds of produce.
Mobile Pantry Program
Educational Programs
The primary means of providing fresh food to communities is through our Mobile Pantry Program. On a predetermined date and time, a Food Bank truck delivers a load (10,00012,000 pounds) of produce and other perishable and non-perishable items to an easily accessible community site.
Our agency Academy brings together community partners to provide educational and health-related programming to our member agencies to help increase the capacity of hunger center volunteers and staff to serve their clients. In FY2013, we offered 16 nutrition-related courses.
Distributions take place in a variety of settings: church parking lots, Food Bank member agencies, community centers, and even at the Food Bank. With the help of volunteers, clients receive bags of nutritious fresh produce and other items. We distributed just over 8.4 million pounds of food through 755 mobile distributions last year!
We will offer more of these courses in the upcoming year to help educate our agencies and encourage them to take the nutritious foods we have available on our menu. The Food Bank hired a nutrition manager to help increase agency and client knowledge about nutrition by conducting cooking demos and meal planning.
Overall, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank distributed 36.6 million pounds of nutritious food in our six-county service area that includes Cuyahoga, Lake Geauga, Ashtabula, Richland and Ashland counties. This increase would not have been possible without the strong support of our food donors—including farmers, retailers, grocers, manufacturers, the State of Ohio, the United States Department of Agriculture and generous organizations.
30
31
32
Meet
DAWN City: Lakewood | Occupation: Nurse | Children: Sila 6; Calvin; and Greyson, 4
Dawn carried the phone number for the Help Center in her pocket for weeks. She says she just wasn’t ready to admit defeat. She figured if she could just hold out a little longer, she’d finally find a nursing job, and then be back on her feet in no time.
Dawn was able to visit the pantry Yolanda recommended that same day. She remembers the relief she felt as she entered the pantry, which was full of the food she hadn’t been able to provide for Silas, Calvin and Greyson. She knew the little boys would be so excited when she brought home apples — their favorite. That night, they had ground turkey tacos.
When a sudden divorce left her as a single parent, Dawn found the lapse in her work history to be debilitating to her job search. Surely she’d find something soon, she thought. But then one night Dawn realized she had nothing to give her boys for supper, and she had no other choice but to seek help.
Through it all, Dawn knows it’s thanks to your support of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank that she was able to find the help she needed. "Thank you. Without you, people would be hungry — we were days from going hungry," she says. Aside from connecting Dawn with the immediate food assistance she needed at the food Yolanda helped Dawn apply for pantry, SNAP benefits. Within a few days, the caring mother was able to take her little boys to the grocery store.
“Thank you. Without you, people would be hungry — we were days from going hungry’’
"It’s a sad story, but with a happy ending," Dawn says. "We’re coming through it. Good things keep happening." Good things, indeed. Dawn has an interview for a nursing position this week.
When she finally called the Help Center, Yolanda answered the phone and looked up where I could get help in my neighborhood. "She was so kind. She worked with me for over an hour to see what I qualified for."
33
34
Meet
DAWN City: Lakewood | Occupation: Nurse | Children: Sila 6; Calvin; and Greyson, 4
Dawn carried the phone number for the Help Center in her pocket for weeks. She says she just wasn’t ready to admit defeat. She figured if she could just hold out a little longer, she’d finally find a nursing job, and then be back on her feet in no time.
Dawn was able to visit the pantry Yolanda recommended that same day. She remembers the relief she felt as she entered the pantry, which was full of the food she hadn’t been able to provide for Silas, Calvin and Greyson. She knew the little boys would be so excited when she brought home apples — their favorite. That night, they had ground turkey tacos.
When a sudden divorce left her as a single parent, Dawn found the lapse in her work history to be debilitating to her job search. Surely she’d find something soon, she thought. But then one night Dawn realized she had nothing to give her boys for supper, and she had no other choice but to seek help.
Through it all, Dawn knows it’s thanks to your support of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank that she was able to find the help she needed. "Thank you. Without you, people would be hungry — we were days from going hungry," she says. Aside from connecting Dawn with the immediate food assistance she needed at the food Yolanda helped Dawn apply for pantry, SNAP benefits. Within a few days, the caring mother was able to take her little boys to the grocery store.
“Thank you. Without you, people would be hungry — we were days from going hungry’’
"It’s a sad story, but with a happy ending," Dawn says. "We’re coming through it. Good things keep happening." Good things, indeed. Dawn has an interview for a nursing position this week.
When she finally called the Help Center, Yolanda answered the phone and looked up where I could get help in my neighborhood. "She was so kind. She worked with me for over an hour to see what I qualified for."
35
SNAP Outreach The Greater Cleveland Food Bank’s
With this new Help Center, the Food Bank completed 11, 215 SNAP applications compared to 5,099 in 2012 and it resulted in 9.3 million meals for eligible people in Northeast Ohio. This is just over 20% of the total meals we provided.
new Help Center was fully operational in 2013. Unique among food banks in the nation, the Food Bank’s Help Center is open daily to refer low income callers to local agencies and sign-up eligibly Northeast Ohioans for the SNAP programs and other benefits.
5,099
11,215
SNAP Applications
SNAP Applications
2012
2013
36
37
12,000 The efforts of our 12,000 volunteers save the Food Bank the cost of hiring approximately 30 full-time employees.
38
39
FOOD PROGRAMS REVENUE Value of Food Received
Value of Food Donated Value of USDA and OFPP Food Received
$26,837903 $21,456,370
Total
$48,294,273
Food Revenue
Purchased Food Program
$3,848,613
Total Food Program Revenue
$52,142,886
Operating Revenue
Member Agency Handling Fees Federal, State, County Government reimbursements and admin fees
$2,393,452 $1,889,670
Contributions and Grants Harvest for Hunger Campaign Other
$6,949,626 $3,294,583 $166,711
Total Operating Revenue
$14,694,042
Total Revenue from Food Programs and Operations
$66,836,928
Food Programs Expense
Value of Food Distributed Value of Donated Food Distributed including scrap Value of USDA and OFPP Food Distributed including scrap
Total
$26,031,665 $20,272,160 $46,303,825
Food Cost of Goods Sold
Purchased Food Program including scrap
$3,543,259
Allocation of Harvest for Hunger Grants/Food
$2,287,126
Total Food Programs Expenses
$52,134,210
40
OPERATING EXPENSES Program Expenses
Operations Cleveland Food Bank Kitchen Community and Government Programming
$7,151,404 $1,815,668 $1,049,850
Total Program Expenses
$10,016,922
Support Services
Fundraising Volunteer Services & Product Resource Development Administration
$1,988,048 $211,146 $1,041,602
Total Support Services $3,240,790 Total Operating Expenses
$13,257,718
Total Food Program and Operating Expenses
$65,391,928
Change from Operations
$1,445,000
Other Revenue
Cooler/freezer expansion contributions Endowment contributions Income and Gain (loss) from investments
$429,740 $200 $574,958
Total Other Revenue
$1,004,898
Change in Net Assets
$2,449,898 $13,337,504 $15,787,402
Net Assets, Beginning of Year Net Assets, End of Year
41
42
Help us win the fight against hunger in our communities.
43
15500 South Waterloo Rd. Cleveland, OH 44110 Phone: 216-738-2265 | Fax: 216-738-1604 | www.GreaterClevelandFoodBank.org
44