Information about
Food Bank for Larimer County
VISION:
A hunger free Larimer County
MISSION STATEMENT:
Provide food to all in need through community partnerships and hunger relief programs.
Brief history of organization:
For 25 years the Food Bank for Larimer County has been providing food to those at risk of hunger in Larimer County. The Food Bank started when a VISTA volunteer -- through a survey she was conducting to low-income residents -- concluded that
there was a need for a centralized location for donated food. In the first month of operations they gave out 3,800 pounds of food. Last year the Food Bank for Larimer County distributed more than 7 million pounds of food to the highest number of
low-income residents in our history.
Initially known as the Food Distribution Center, the original food bank served as a central hub for food for agencies who served a low income population. There was no refrigeration, no freezer, and no trucks or drivers. Today, we operate a debt-free 32,000-square foot office/warehouse with significant freezer and cooling capacity and we are members of largest charitable hunger relief network in the country – Feeding America. We have a fleet of five trucks and operate three hunger relief programs in the community.
Although the Food Bank employs 24 individuals, the majority of the organizing, sorting and distributing of the food is done by our family of volunteers. In 2008, more than 1,700 volunteers gave their time performing various tasks, and together contributed over 22,000 hours of service.
How many total clients are served annually:
Through Food Share, our direct service food pantry:
Over 26,000 unduplicated individuals
Through Kids Cafe:
56,000 + meals served
Through Food Link:
Actually clients are unknown but 70 other non-profits receive food from us.
What are the demographics of the population
that is being served:
Through Food Share:
All clients are 185% of poverty or below based on family size. 53% of clients are children under the age of 18 and 7% are seniors. Our clients fall into four primary categories: Retired and not able to make ends meet with social security, disabled, low wage workers or the underemployed, and those seeking work.
Through Kids Cafe:
All clients are low income (185% of poverty and below) children under the age of 18.
Through Food Link:
We provide food to homeless shelters, group homes for developmentally disabled adults, domestic violence shelters, and food pantries that serve a diverse range of low income individuals.Th Other 1.
Current major initiatives:
Food Stamp Outreach, 25th Anniversary, Farm to Family and we are conducting a study to determine the feasibility of a capital campaign for our Loveland Food Share facility.
What is the greatest challenge you foresee for your organization in the next year:
For us it will be determining what we need to do in Loveland. We are leasing a facility that we’ve outgrown but given the economy have not determined when/if we should start a capital campaign. If we do, we are concerned it could impact operating revenue in such tough times yet we have to do something to meet the growing demand. For instance, we have 12 parking spaces for 215 clients per day.
How are Empty Stocking funds expended to
benefit your clients:
The money received from ESF is used for us to acquire donated food for all three programs that we operate. This year we will distribute a record 7 million pounds fo food in Larimer County.
Calculating the number of clients served is a little tough as generally this is not how we communicate our statistics; we convey ROI based on pounds of food distributed. So, since 2007 we’ve been able to distribute 205,000 pounds of food. We could put this a couple other ways.
- For one dollar we can provide four meals, so ESF has allowed us to provide almost 123,000 meals.
- In Food Share our clients on average receive 40 pounds of food per visit. So, if ESF has generated 205,000#’s of food, 5,125 clients have benefited.
- Although we don’t designate the funds for any one program, ESF dollars could have helped us provide almost 10,000 meals through Kids Cafe.
What is the true, lasting impact of the Empty
Stocking Fund on your organization/clients:
I believe it is the media partnerships generated that have told the real stories of those receiving services from our agencies. The stories make it much easier for people to relate and think to themselves, “that could happen to me.”
"Since last year, the number of clients served monthly in Food Share has gone from 9,000 to 11,500. So every month we are providing food to 2,500 more people than we were last year at this time. The need is higher than ever and we are very grateful to be included again this year. Please let us know what we can do to help make it successful!"