Annual 2017 REPORT Officers of the Board Pauline Perkins Moye Cheryl A. Senerchia Director of Social Services Honorable Justice William Smith PRESIDENT Newport Housing Authority* Lisa Stanton Edward O. Handy, III William R. Walter President & Chief Operating Officer Linda H. Newton Ray Welsh The Washington Trust Company Consultant Newton & Newton, LLP VICE PRESIDENT Mary Flynn, PhD, RD, LDN Kathy O’Donnell Agency Advisory Council Research Dietitian and Associate Senior Vice President, Head of Public (as of 11/30/17) Professor of Medicine, Clinical Affairs CHAIR The Miriam Hospital and Brown University Citizens Financial Group Jim Carroll SVDP St. Phillip TREASURER Russell Partridge Smithfield Robert M. Leach Executive Director Senior Relationship Manager WARM Center* Natalia Bonella & Dorothy Lucas TD Bank Holy Family Parish Mark A. Ross Pawtucket SECRETARY Retired Vice President Deborah Thurston Ross-Simons Jewelers Diana Burdett & George Gaffett Food Coordinator PICA Renee St. John TAPIN* Providence Controller Members of the Board Community Care Alliance* David Carpenter SVDP Emergency Food Center Tanisha Simpson Louis Amoriggi Cranston Senior Vice President Senior Manager of Volunteer and Nutrition Webster Bank Services Joshua-Michael Corrente Westbay Community Action* Westbay CAP Stephen Ashworth Warwick Managing Director, U.S. Trust Jyothi Subramaniam Bank of America Former Faculty Sharron Johnson Johnson & Wales University Federal Hill House Kate Brewster Providence Executive Director Marilyn Warren Jonnycake Center of Peace Dale* Executive Director David Olguin Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Jonnycake Center of Peace Dale James A. Bussiere Center* South Kingstown Senior Vice President Amica Mutual Insurance Company Christopher C. Whitney Katherine Redlich Partner Bridges, Inc. Group Home Food Center Kimberly L. Cummins Pierce Atwood, LLP Jamestown Senior Vice President of Organizational Performance * Member Agency of the Food Bank Joyce Rongo Fidelity Investments TAPIN Honorary Board Members Barrington Harley Frank President Patricia M. Cerilli Ellen Shalvey Admiral Packaging, Inc. Wayne Charness BackPack Program Frank D. DePetrillo Woonsocket Mark W. Freel Alan Shawn Feinstein Partner Gerry Fernandez Sarah Teixeira Locke Lord LLP Charles S. Fradin Jonnycake Center of Westerly Arnold M. Friedman Gregory Garger Kathleen Gorman, PhD Stefani Weber Executive Director, Labor & Douglas Johnson, PhD Coventry Community Services Employee Relations Michele Lederberg Tex tron, Inc. Donna Lee Dorothy Licht David Macchioni Joseph J. MarcAurele District Director Bob McDonough Stop & Shop John D. Muggeridge Eugene Martin John Murphy President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Powers Gordon Brothers Finance Company Dennis Roy Filling the Gap
We are pleased to present the 2017 Annual Report for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. We appreciate your support in helping us ensure that no one in Rhode Island goes hungry. Number With cuts in federal funding looming for numerous government programs, of people 7 the Food Bank and its member agencies are preparing for an increase in served thousand demand for food assistance. monthly Each month in 2017, more than 57,000 guests visited our network of by the pantries and meal sites. It is impossible to imagine serving more people Food Bank in the coming year without much more support from the community.
Currently, many working families are not earning enough to make ends meet, even with the government assistance they receive. If benefits like thousand SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and LIHEAP (the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) are slashed, our clients will rely on us even more to put food on the table.
And for us to succeed, we will ask for your continued commitment. We need you to ensure that we can acquire and distribute more than 9.5 million pounds of healthy, nutritious food each year for the children, 2007 2017 adults and seniors that we serve.
We expect difficult times ahead, but we know that our dear friends and allies will continue to help make our work possible. Thank you for continuing to support the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.
YOUR TURN
Review our Annual Report to learn about the programs you have made possible.
Share our story with others and invite them to participate. Edward O. Handy, III Andrew Schiff Talk to your friends President, Board of Directors Chief Executive Officer about what they can do to help.
Visit rifoodbank.org to learn how to collect food OUR MISSION and raise funds. To improve the quality of life for all Rhode Islanders by advancing solutions to the problem of hunger.
OUR VISION We envision a state where no one goes hungry. ANNUAL REPORT 2017 3 Putting Kids First To help address the needs of school-aged chil- dren, the Food Bank and its member agencies Children make up one-third have developed a number of programs in addi- tion to traditional pantries and meal sites. (33%) of the population we
serve through our network of School Pantries – Currently, the Food Bank member agencies across the supports fourteen pantries located in schools state. The impact of hunger on across the state. Children, and in some cases families as well, can pick up healthy, nutritious young, developing bodies and food to take home. The school location makes it minds is especially concerning. easy for parents and kids to have access to food Without proper nutrition, kids with a “one-stop-shopping” model. can’t learn, play and grow into Kids Cafe – The Food Bank’s Kids Cafe pro- productive adults. gram serves healthy evening meals to children at risk of hunger and provides nutrition educa- tion as part of after-school activities. Meals are prepared daily by the Food Bank’s Community Kitchen culinary job training program.
Meals4Kids – When school is out, low-income children no longer receive free and reduced-price breakfasts and lunch. The Meals4Kids program provides them with a box of nutritious food that will last for a week, helping families during vaca- tion weeks, or with the transition between the end of the school year and the start of summer lunch programs. Boxes are distributed through community health centers and food pantries.
Eighty-seven percent of every dollar Over the past several years, donations of Your Contributions donated to the Food Bank is spent on food from the food industry decreased the acquisition and distribution of as their inventory systems have become Support Struggling healthy foods and the implementation more efficient. As a result, the Food Bank of community-based programs. Fund- now purchases 33% of our food supply (or Families raising and administrative costs are just 3.1 million pounds). 13 percent of our total expenses.
1 Kids Cafe 5 Administration & General 1 Nutrition Education
FY17 8 5 Expenditures { 83 Food A uisition & Distribution 8 Fundraising 2 Community Kitchen
4 ANNUAL REPORT 2017 Help She Can Rely On
“People don’t realize what a blessing it is to have something like this,” At the food pantry at St. Thomas says Angela of the food pantry at Church, volunteers enroll guests like St. Thomas Catholic Church in Angela in the Senior Box Program. Providence, a member agency of the Rhode Island Community Each month, volunteers distribute Food Bank. boxes of nutritious food to seniors.
Angela spent most of her adulthood in Rhode Island, working in the school department for 21 years until her retirement. Today, she lives on a limited income from Social Security and struggles to support herself.
Bare Shelves - When a friend noticed that she didn’t have much food in her refrigerator, she told An- gela about the St. Thomas pantry.
“She said, ‘Come to St. Thomas, Angela visited the pantry often until you just need to sign in,’” Angela Monthly Support - Through CSFP, she learned she qualified for the federal recalls. “So I went with her, and Angela is able to pick up a box of nutritious Commodity Supplemental Food Program they gave me enough to cover a few food that provides her with basic staples. (CSFP). Now she only visits once a month of my meals. I like it, it’s set up like to pick up her monthly box. “It’s there for a supermarket, you can shop for She likes what she receives in the box each people in need. When I don’t need it, I what you need.” month. “You have to be creative: I use the don’t come,” she explains. milk for baking, cereal, drinking some- times. The pasta I’ll break up for chicken soup, and I’ll use the vegetables in that as well. I can make Italian dressing to go with salad. I love the fruit. And the cheese, To purchase healthy, nutritious food for the clients we serve, the Food Bank I’ll make a sort of cheese salsa – a dip – or relies on the generous support of businesses, foundations, individuals and orga- grilled cheese.” nizations who are committed to providing assistance to our neighbors in need.
Angela lives on a tight budget, and the CSFP box helps her reduce the cost of FY17 Public Support Corporate & 2 Government purchasing food. & Revenue Organization Funding Contributions Program 4 Special “I try to manage my money. After Revenue Events & Other 21 years of work, they don’t give you 6 6 enough to pay rent and utilities.” 10 Corporate & The first two weeks of the month are Foundation Grants 22 50 especially difficult for Angela, because she gets her Social Security check on the third Individual Donated Food Wednesday. “Landlords don’t like to hear Contributions Fair Market Value that. But you have to make ends meet, so you have to be a good budgeter.”
ANNUAL REPORT 2017 5 Traveling Globally. Giving Locally.
With Collette Travel, you can plan a trip to see the world. At the same time, you’re con- nected to a company that gives back, both globally and locally, right here in Rhode Island.
For many years, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank has enjoyed a Employees Pitch In - Collette’s presence is wonderful relationship with Collette. The organization has provided grant especially felt on Founders Day each July when funding, sponsored events and offered staff as volunteers to sort and pack employees descend upon the Food Bank to help donated food. get food ready for distribution to the many agen- cies across the state that directly serve clients in Alleviating Hunger - “Collette is proud to support the Rhode Island need of food assistance. Community Food Bank and the important services they provide to the state of Rhode Island,” explains Collette CEO Dan Sullivan, Jr. “We are Lynne explains, “Our employees love being en- aligned with the Food Bank’s mission to alleviate hunger in the state.” gaged as volunteers to help with these initiatives. It really gives them a great sense of pride in their Grants and other funds are distributed through Collette Cares, the com- work. And we’re glad to facilitate that experience pany’s philanthropic arm, which is focused on three main areas: hunger, for them.” homelessness and education. Teams of employees participate in the deci- sion-making process and follow the progress of the projects they support. In particular, the staff at Collette are impressed by the level of accountability they see at the Food As Lynne Kelly, Community Relations Manager, explains, Bank, “We see the impact through the number of people served or the amount of food distributed “Giving back is in our fabric here. It’s an important and that always amazes us.” part of our culture. There are many opportunities We’re grateful that our friends at Collette are willing to take a break from traveling the world to be involved.” to head down the road to the Food Bank and help Rhode Islanders in need.
6 ANNUAL REPORT 2017 Getting Food In and Out The Food Bank distributed 9.5 million pounds of food through its network of member agencies.
We acquire this supply from a variety of sources including the food industry – growers, retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers as well as donations from individuals and businesses in the community. (See pie chart for details)
Still, donated food is not enough to meet the high demand and the Food Bank must purchase one-third (33%) of the food that we distribute. One advantage of buying food ourselves is that we can select healthy, nutritious foods that are often not found in the donation stream.
The Food Bank is committed to providing It’s our priority to ensure that the healthy food and 88% of what we distribute 155 member agencies in our network is considered “core” food because it can be receive the food they need to serve used to prepare a nutritious meal. Examples their guests. They are able to order of core foods include brown rice, cereal, their food through our convenient fresh and canned fruits and vegetables, online shopping system and nearly pastas and sauce, canned soups and stews, 70% of this food is delivered by our peanut butter and tuna. fleet of eight vehicles.
FRESH PRODUCE FOR ALL
At the Food Bank, we’re committed to making fresh produce available to guests at our food pantries and meal sites. We work closely with local farms and national distributors for opportunities to acquire more fruits and vegetables at a low cost.
Last year, the Food Bank distributed 2,300,000 pounds of fresh produce. That’s 23% of all food distributed. We acquire 1,707,360 pounds from distributors while local farm businesses contribute 372,603 pounds of fresh produce.
We’re also fortunate to reap the benefits of four volunteer-run communi- ty farms that produced 60,000 pounds of fresh, local produce last year. Many of them deliver this food directly to pantries and meal sites while others get it to the Food Bank so we can distribute it throughout the state.
It’s a lot of work and some dirty hands but it helps ensure that everyone has access to fresh produce.
ANNUAL REPORT 2017 7 Todd Blount (left), CEO and President of Blount Fine Foods, encourages employees to get involved with organizations in the community.
Food Is Our Mission For more than seventy years, Blount Fine Foods has taken great pride in delivering delicious soup to consumers at a great price. But they’re also committed to giving back to the community where they work and live.
Last year, Blount donated nearly Blount Fine Foods gives back in a On a larger scale, Blount regularly do- 120,000 pounds of food to the Rhode number of ways, what Todd calls nates cases of their product to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, making their Hierarchy of Giving. Island Community Food Bank and the them one of the largest food industry • Feeding the Hungry – They Greater Boston Food Bank for distribution donors. In addition, the folks at Blount regularly donate soups to meal throughout both states. have participated in our annual Empty sites like the Providence Rescue Bowls fundraiser, serving their soup to Mission and the Fall River “It’s important that we are engaged our guests. Soup Kitchen. in the community. We need to work Blount’s CEO and President Todd • Fundraising – They provide soups together to solve issues [like hunger]. Blount explained the company’s philos- for nonprofit organizations to Our employees also take great pride ophy toward giving back: serve or sell at their events. Blount Organics participated in the Food in knowing that they are part of “Food insecurity is an issue that’s Bank’s Empty Bowls fundraiser the solution.” easy for us to address. It’s in our for the last two years. Todd hopes that Blount’s corporate philan- • Donating Funds – They will DNA. We’re all about food. We’re all thropy will spur individual employees to offer support to organizations about community. We want to be take advantage of volunteer opportunities. through sponsorships and other part of something with meaning.” giving opportunities. “We want our employees to feel more connected, so it’s not just about moving boxes and pallets. We want people to want to work here.”
And it’s just the beginning at Blount. In the near future, they plan to formalize employee volunteer programs and have staff more involved in determining giving priorities for the company.
“It’s a huge area of growth for us and we look forward to getting more staff involved so we can have an even greater impact.”
8 ANNUAL REPORT 2017 Programs to Empower
CULINARY JOB TRAINING AND WORK READINESS
For nearly twenty years, the Community Kitchen program at the Rhode Island Community Food Bank has prepared low-income and unemployed adults for careers in the food industry.
Led by two professional chefs, students learn the art of On-the-Job Training Sites – Rhode Island is known for cooking while preparing themselves for the competitive its fine culinary establishments and many of those sites job market. Over 80% of graduating students secure support the Rhode Island Community Food Bank’s Com- full-time employment in the food industry. munity Kitchen job training program by hosting students so they can learn practical kitchen skills while participat- The fourteen-week program is free for qualified candi- ing. Here is a list of sites that participated last year: dates. Participants learn a wide range of skills like knife handling, food safety – including ServSafe certification Cranston Providence Continued Chapel Grille Crossroads RI – resume writing, job interviewing and even personal T’s Restaurant Easy Entertaining financial management. Texas Roadhouse Eurest Dining at Hasbro, Inc./Compass USA East Greenwich Fireworks Catering Dave’s Marketplace Thirteen students are enrolled in each session where Hemenway’s Seafood Grill they learn in the classroom, in an industrial kitchen and East Providence & Oyster Bar Tockwotton on the Waterfront at on-the-job-training sites. The nutritious meals they IGT LaSalle Bakery prepare at the Food Bank are distributed to kids at Lincoln Eurest Dining at Los Andes after-school program sites. Amica/Compass USA Mill’s Tavern Old Canteen Newport Pranzi Catering & Events Tom’s Market & Deli Catering Renaissance Providence Hotel Providence Rhode Island Hospital Blue Cross & Blue Shield of RI Rhode Island School of Design Bluefin Grille (Providence Marriott) Saint Elizabeth Court Capital Grille
COMMUNITY COOKING
Providing healthy, nutritious food to Classes are designed in six-week ses- guests at our member agencies is a sions and workshops are fun, informative top priority at the Rhode Island Com- and engaging. At the end of the sessions, munity Food Bank. Eating well helps participants are given the ingredients from keep people healthy and productive. class so they can try it at home. There are also curriculums designed for older adults Through our Community Cooking nu- and for children. trition education program, we teach guests and staff how to prepare Demand for the classes is high, as people healthy meals on a budget, based become more aware of the need to eat on the food that is available at our well to stay healthy and look for inexpen- network of pantries. sive ways to prepare nutritious meals.
ANNUAL REPORT 2017 9 Neighborhood Resource
“Centers like this should have more help so they can help more people in need like me.”
Andrelisa came to Providence with her daughter to start fresh after her marriage ended. Her cousin had a place where she could stay until she could manage to support herself.
Two years later, she still struggles to find a way to make ends meet. At for- ty-three, she is a single mom caring for a twelve-year old daughter living on the unpredictable income she earns as a hair stylist.
She says, “I don’t make that much money, but it’s enough so that I can’t qualify for assistance. And raising a young daughter on my own is very expensive.”
Serving the Community – After settling Food and Much More – Andrelisa appreciates what she receives from into her new neighborhood, she learned the pantry. “Everything is good and I use it all: rice, cereal, beans – anything about the food pantry at the Elmwood Com- that is canned that I can keep on my shelf.” munity Center, a program of the Community Action Partnership of Providence, one of the In addition to food assistance, she takes classes, participates in fitness activi- 155 member agencies of the Rhode Island ties and volunteers to give back to the place that has helped her so much. Community Food Bank throughout the state. “I really appreciate everything they do for me, my daughter and the commu- The pantry serves more than six hundred nity. Centers like this should have more help so they can help more people in residents in the 02907 zip code of Provi- need like me.” dence, a neighborhood with a majority of low-income residents and a high child poverty rate.
“When I went to the pantry for the first time, they gave me food right away. Then they told me I qualify to come back every 15 days to pick up food for me and my daughter.”
As Jailine Ortiz, Food Pantry Coordinator explains, “Everyone receives emergency food assistance the first time they come to the pantry. Then we look at their income and family size to determine how often they can visit and how much food they can receive.”
10 ANNUAL REPORT 2017 Inspired by Faith
Edwin and Margaret Boger embody the word philanthropy — a love of mankind. As youngsters growing up, caring for others was instilled in them through their involvement at church.
“We were taught to have care and concern about the homeless the hungry, widows, orphans,” said Margaret. “That basic belief led us to feel we have a responsibility to those who are less fortunate. We try to do what God would want us to do.”
Married for 56 years, Edwin and Margaret have spent a lifetime in the service of others. He was a biology professor, and she was a nurse. Both are now retired. They first got involved through a meal site in Providence that was supplied by the Food Bank, helping out every Saturday to prepare food for the guests. Margaret is more of a people person, so she was out front getting to know the clients, while Edwin was back in the kitchen stirring the giant pots of soup.
The Cereal Man – If that weren’t enough, Ed used to shop for cereal “We have always every Saturday, which he would deliver to women’s shelters. “I was known as appreciated the Food the cereal man,” he quipped. He ran Bank because it’s such a bread ministry at their church for years, picking up bread from a local a champion of the market and delivering it to food pan- tries around Providence. He bought 20 hungry and pound bags of rice to give to the Liberi- underprivileged” an immigrants at their church.
“Ed is the one with the most generous heart,” said Margaret, still with stars in her eyes after 56 years. “He’s still teach- Ed was featured in The Providence Journal for volunteering at the Church of the Epiphany ing me. It’s very hard for Ed to ever say soup kitchen on Potters Avenue in Providence. It’s easy to provide no when he learns of a need. He is a support to the phenomenal human being.” “We have always appreciated the Food Bank Food Bank through because it’s such a champion of the hungry your will or estate Supporting Their Beliefs – and underprivileged,” said Margaret. “We plan. To find out how, In addition to volunteering their time, read every word of the newsletters from the contact our Director of Ed and Margaret contribute financially Food Bank. We feel very informed.” to the Food Bank. On milestone birth- Philanthropy, days and anniversaries, they’ve request- “We’re grateful for each day we have, and we Karen Fuller, at ed donations to the Food Bank instead continue to support the things we think are 401-230-1676 or of gifts for themselves. And several important,” said Ed. “We love the feeling of [email protected]. years ago, they let us know that we are sharing with others. We’re blessed–we can in their estate plan. do it, so we’re glad to do it.”
ANNUAL REPORT 2017 11 Year in Review
Sing Away Hunger Bill Harley, Keith Munslow and friends continued their tradition of throwing a fun family concert for the benefit of the Food Bank, raising about $20,000.
Ocean State Job Lot, RIPTA and iHeart radio stations B101, Citizens Bank, in Coast 93.3 and 94 partnership with the HJY teamed up for Pawtucket Red Sox & a 33-hour food drive Cox Communications, at three Job Lot donated $75,000 ($75 store locations. for every strikeout by a PawSox pitcher during 33-Hour Food-A-Thon the season). Striking Out Hunger Fall Winter Annual Meeting Holiday Food Drive Food Bank member & Open House agency Looking Upwards, Visitors donated non- Inc. Lake House received perishable food items, the Loni McGrath Award toured the Food Bank, for their Community helped sort donations, Garden program that pro- and enjoyed holiday vides guests with access music and cheer! to fresh produce.
The Narragansett Council of the Boy Scouts of America collected 225,000 pounds of food through their an- nual food drive. Boy Scouts Food Drive Food Scouts Boy
12 ANNUAL REPORT 2017 Annual Agency Conference The Food Bank’s Agency Services team brought together member agencies to compare best practices and recognize outstanding efforts to serve neighbors In summer time, in need. Rhode Island’s donations lag, but letter carriers the need for food collected 60,000 isn’t any less! The pounds of food Summer Food across the state Drive reminded as part of their Rhode Islanders 25th Annual that hunger never Summer Food Drive Food Summer Stamp Out HungerStamp Stamp Out Hunger takes a vacation. food drive.
Spring Summer
The pledge-drive pros at RI Public Radio raised $15,000 before 11:30 AM, helping the Food Bank secure a matching grant of $10,000 from the Rhode Island Foundation and a further $5,000 match from
RIPR Drive Pledge an anonymous donor.
Truck Stop At the biggest Truck Stop yet, 700 attendees enjoyed food from dozens of Rhode Island’s most beloved food trucks in the Food Bank park- ing lot. The event, sponsored by Stop & Shop and held in partnership with Eat Drink RI, raised nearly $160,000.
ANNUAL REPORT 2017 13 Member Agencies Across Rhode Island
Over the past year, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank served 57,000 people in need of food assistance each month through our statewide network of 155 member agencies. This map shows the number of member agencies located in the cities and towns we serve as of June 30, 2017. These agencies include food pantries, meal programs, shelters, transitional housing, group homes, senior centers, day care and after-school programs. For a complete list of Food Bank member agencies, see the next page or visit our website at rifoodbank.org.
Woonsocket