Non-Profit Organization: San Antonio Food Bank - Case Study Example

Non Profit Organization: San Antonio Food Bank Introduction The San Antonia Food Bank is a non profit organization founded in 1980 and the 14th massive food bank from a total of 205 in the United States. The organization offers food supplies and grocery items to over 500 support agencies located in the 16 counties of Southwest Texas. To this end, it operates as a clearing house which receives donated truckloads of grocery items and food. The received food donations are consequently donated to persons in need. The counties served by the San Antonio Food Bank include Bexar, Atascosa, Bandera, Comal, Medina, Guadalupe, Edwards, Frio, Karnes, La Salle, Kendall, Real, Kerr, Uvalde, Zavala and Wilson (Colvin 2). To this end, the San Antonio Food Bank espouses to combat the ubiquitous problem of hunger with Southwest Texas through advocacy, education, programs and distribution of food. The statistical operations of the San Antonio Food Bank in relation to its emergency food operations provide succinct information pertaining to its target groups. Evidently, emergency food relief is accorded to 36% of its target population who are mostly children. Furthermore, the organization offers food assistance to elderly cohorts of the population that account for 14%. The homeless segment of the persons served constitutes 8% of the population while 67% are composed of those with incomes below the federal poverty index (Colvin 2). In addition, 46% of the household offered food assistance has at least a single unemployed adult (Colvin 2). To this end the subsequent sections will offer a succinct explanation of San Antonio’s Food Bank executive leadership, fund development, capacity development, social entrepreneurship, collaboration, management of volunteers, accountability and evaluations. Executive Leadership The leadership structure of the San Antonio Food Bank is composed of an Executive Director, and the Director of Services. To this end, the Executive Director of SAFB is Eric Cooper while the Director of Operations is Paco Velez. Eric Cooper is regarded as an inspiration among all the SAFB staff. To this end, he received an accolade in 2011 as the Executive Director of 2011 by Feeding America. This was in recognition for his exemplary leadership efforts in feeding the needy members in the community. Furthermore, it was in honour of his efforts in supporting the strategic plan of Feeding America. To this end, the plan espoused that no individual ends up hungry in America. Under Eric’s leadership, the organization tripled its distribution of grocery items and food from 14 million pounds to 43 million pounds. In addition, the organization increased its operational budget to more than 769 percent from 2001(Colvin 2). The leadership has also expanded its national programs by including new programs. These include, the social services outreach, Kids Cafe, farmers market, community kitchen, client choice pantry, community garden, and a nutritional education. In addition, SAFB has an outreach program that is composed of 30 member outreach team. The outreach team conduct the role of aiding in the application for over six federal assistance programs present in the 16 county areas of operations. To this end, the general staff from SAFB process over 2,000 applications monthly. The San Antonio Food Bank has been credited with the most efficient leadership and management staff. Evidently, the organization’s charity policy ensures that 98 cents accruing from each donated dollar is directed into the programs. Fund Development Due to the fact that San Antonio Food Bank is a non for profit organization, most of its operations are funded through donations and grants. To this end, the donations are drawn from churches, local businesses, civic groups, government, individuals and foundations. To this end, the donations made to SAFB operational funds are used to purchase and distribute food. The funds are equally used to operate the large coolers and freezers, and maintenance of the food storage warehouses. Moreover, the donations are utilized in incurring the cost of fuelling and maintaining the refrigeration trucks. To this end, the reliance on donations guarantees the stability of SAFB even in the event of an economic decline. Consequently, SAFB is able to ensure a constant flow of services in circumstances when demand sis higher than expected. Capacity Building Capacity building denotes the development resources and capabilities with respect to institutional, organizational, technological, human and scientific paradigms (Ott & Dicke). In the event of building of capacities an organization should foremost outline the core areas in need of assistance. To this end, the San Antonio Food Bank identified that the 16 county areas of operations had prevalent high levels of poor nutrition, hunger and health problems that contributed to hunger. Moreover, other subsidiary problems included homelessness, overcrowding, unemployment, substance abuse, crime, sub standard housing, overcrowding and adolescent pregnancies. To this end, capacity building efforts revolved around the accumulation of donations aimed at purchasing of food for distribution to the vulnerable groups. Moreover, capacity building has been witnessed through the building of partnerships with other stakeholders. This has been through the development of various programs that not only distribute food, but also educate the community on the importance of proper nutrition, and offer emergency assistance. In effect, the capacity building initiatives are evident through the following range of programs; Warehouse Distribution Program The program constitutes the largest food assistance distribution in SFDA. Evidently, the program involves the storage of all grocery and food products within the warehouse. Consequently, the food is distributed among the hungry persons within the target counties. In addition, all product donations, food drives and purchased food are incorporated within the program. Grocery products and food are donated from across the States in the United States. Upon receipt, all the products are inspected and stored at the main warehouse in SFB. To this end, a 15 cents fee per pound is levied on the client agencies (Colvin 5). This fee is used in the payment of utility, equipment, repair, warehouse and personal costs. On the other hand, baked goods and fresh produce are not charged on handling fees. Moreover, whenever goods are received, the 325 member agencies are sent an inventory list. The inventory list informs them that items are available. To this effect, the agencies send out a fax detailing the order list of products required. Consequently, the Food Bank prepares the orders and makes them available for the pre determined pick up date. As a result, the agencies pick up the products and transport them back to their locations. Consequently, the hungry people within the locality are able to receive their food rations. Second Servings Program The San Antonio Food Bank equally conducts the second servings programs. Evidently, the program involves the collection of cooked and perishable food products. The foods are collected from caterers, restaurants, country clubs, hotels, private food establishments and hospitals. The food is distributed immediately on site to the hungry persons located at the agencies. Moreover, the San Antonio Food Bank also collects large donations of food from professional food conventions that occur each year. To this end, the second servings program has witnessed profound growth in its food distributions. Evidently, between 1992 and 2000 distribution of food products increased from 42, 794 pounds to 1,000,000 pounds (Colvin 6). Moreover, the program has been providing food to 40 feeding sites. Examples here include the Seton home for girls, battered women’s shelter, San Antonio children’s shelter, First Baptist Church, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Presa community, and the Salvation Army. The food distribution to such charities greatly minimizes their food budgets. Consequently, the charities are able to divert their saved funds to other issues of high priority. The SAFB guarantees the food safety of the second servings program by adhering to the stringent health and safety regulations set by the local health department. To this end, the second servings program shares a close and responsive relationship with the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. Evidently, the Health District Professionals inspect all the food received by SAFB agencies. In addition, the food handlers of the second servings program are certified upon completion of a course undertaken at St. Philips Community College. Kids Cafe Program The Kids Cafe Program undertaken by SAFB addresses the problem of childhood hunger through a feeding partnership. The partnership is between an after school program and an area food bank. To this end, the kids’ cafes act as a safe haven where children drawn from the neighbourhood can go for a hot supper after school. Moreover, the children are also assisted with their homework by staff members and volunteers. Evidently, majority of the kids attending the kids’ cafe are elementary school pupils. The need for the kids’ cafes was precipitated by the fact that over 25 million people go to food banks due to food insecurity or hunger. To this end, almost 40% of the hungry persons are children. Moreover, statistics in San Antonio show that out of four children, one experiences hunger (Colvin 7). Furthermore, majority of children in rural or low income set ups do not get adequate well balanced meals. This is either because the cost of meals is to expensive for the families or late work hours by their parents. The San Antonio Food Bank provides support to 12 Kids Cafes which are centrally located so that children can easily access them by riding their bicycles or walking. Nutrition Education Program The San Antonio Food Bank also does further capacity building through the nutrition education program. To this end, the program was developed to look into healthy cooking and eating habits as well as nutrition issues. The program is designed to appeal to the different age groups by packaging in a fun and comprehensive manner. Evidently, SAFB promotes a ‘hand on’ experience in relation to nutrition matters (Colvin 14). This is based on the goal of increasing the eating of vegetables and fruits among the population, but more particularly by the youth. Consequently, this is done through the intervention activities such as active living and healthy eating. These intervention measures are directed towards healthy weight promotion As a result, the San Antonio Food Bank has pertinent focal areas in the education program. Foremost is the primary protection against diseases. This is achieved through promotion of healthy eating habits and active lifestyles that postpone or prevent the manifestation of chronic diseases. The second focal goal is to promote health through active lifestyles and healthy eating habits. To this end, the San Antonio Food Bank espouses four pertinent issues during nutrition education classes. First, is dietary quality which refers to nutritional value of purchased food. The nutritional value of the food is based on its ratings on the dietary guidelines for Americans and the food guide pyramid. The second element relates to shopping behaviour. To this end, shopping behaviour relates to the impulse purchase for, and budgeting of food dollars. Examples of the skill taught include the reading of nutritional value labels. The third element taught relates to food safety in reference to the handling of food. To this end, it refers to practices such as, the recommended food storage temperatures, length of time food can remain fresh without refrigeration, assessment of properly cooked food as well as washing of hands. The fourth element that is taught refers to food security. Evidently, the participants are enlightened that there a persons in the society who are not aware of when they will get their next meal. Food Stamp Education and Outreach Program The program was designed by the San Antonio Food Bank to assist low income households in the purchase of nutritious food. To this end, the United States Department undertakes the responsibility of paying for the food stamps. On the other hand, the San Antonio Food Bank assists in capacity building through processing of food stamp application for the families in need. Evidently, more than 10,000 applicants for the food stamps have been assisted by the San Antonio Food Bank (Colvin 15). The need for offering assistance to the applicants came against background statistics on the severity of the problem. For example, the San Antonio Food Bank established that there were more than 116,000 persons in need of the food stamps. However, their efforts of accessing the benefits were frustrated which resulted on almost $9 million dollars of unused federal funds (Colvin 15). Consequently, the San Antonio Food Bank has committed itself in networking activities with the community aimed at educating agencies and many people as possible. Social Entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurship relates to the activities that involve the combination of resources, innovation and opportunity to provide solutions to pertinent social and environmental problems (Ott & Dicke). To this end, the San Antonio Food Bank innovatively crafted a food fair program aimed at addressing the prevalent problem of hunger. The food fair program was established with the help of the staff from Human Services Commission and Texas Health (Colvin 11). Evidently, the San Antonio Food Bank created sites within San Antonio where food is distributed on a monthly basis to over one thousand families. The member agencies located on the operation areas of San Antonio give out food vouchers to persons in great need. Great consideration is accorded to large families. Consequently, the food vouchers are redeemed on the second, third and fourth Fridays of every month. Evidently, each voucher can be redeemed for more than 60 pounds worth of food. The types of food distributed during the food fairs range from dry milk, canned vegetables, fresh produce, frozen meats, pudding, ice cream and many more. During the food fairs, the staffs from SAFB and volunteers drawn from the partner agencies provide assistance during the food fairs. The volunteers assist with the loading of vehicles with food cases, handing out leaflets containing food stamp information, directing traffic, and giving out vouchers. Moreover, the volunteers’ parent agencies are permitted to receive extra food left over after the food fair. Collaboration The San Antonio Food Bank has collaborated with more than 515 non profit organizations located within the 16 county service areas. To this end, the partner agencies assist in food pantries, group homes, community centres, feeding programs after school, senior centres and other supplementary programs associated with food distribution. Moreover, the distribution partners have completed efforts and resulted to the service of over 58,000 people weekly. To this end, the partner agencies are areas of operation. Moreover, only permitted agencies can qualify as a partner with San Antonio Food Bank. To this end, the permitted agencies include licensed non profit daycares, group homes, churches, soup kitchens, social service organizations, and senior centres. The partner agencies are expected to be consistently engaged in quality improvement, undertake training opportunities that are ongoing and extend courtesy of service to all persons of need. Managing Volunteers A number of non profit organizations thrive on the service of volunteers who would like to be part of assisting the needy society (Ott & Dicke). To this end, the San Antonio Food Bank thrives on volunteer assistance in achieving its mission of feeding hungry persons located in the San Antonio locality and all over Southwest Texas. Consequently, SAFB allows for individuals to donate their time and consequently becoming a partner in the quest against hunger. There are three provisional areas for volunteering. These include individuals who wish to improve the community by volunteering their time. Second, are the family or groups consisting of schools, business, congregations, and community groups. Third includes individuals who have been ordered by the courts to volunteer their time. Accountability and Evaluation As a means of ensuring accountability of funds and operation services, the San Antonio Food Bank has stringent accountability and evaluation measures. For example, the new agencies partnering with the San Antonio Food Bank are expected to pay invoices on all goods taken for the first 90 days. To this end, the credit limits for the new agencies are evaluated based on the spending trends on the first 90 days. In addition, there is a thirty day limit for all invoiced orders to be declared due for payment. In the event that invoices remain unpaid after 30 days, a financial hold on the account is placed on the account whereby orders cannot be placed. Moreover, accounts can be terminated based on defined evaluation conditions. These include financial problems, food safety and health issues, violation of policies outlined by the United States Department of Agriculture and San Antonio Food Bank. Conclusion The San Antonio Food Bank has achieved tremendous achievements that have impacted positively on the target population. Incidentally, a number of programs have been increased to complement the efforts of distributing food and educating on the importance of healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition to people across all the sixteen counties. Furthermore, the innovatively crafted outreach programs designed for federal emergency food aid, have contributed to greater proportion of people getting benefits in South Texas upon calling the SAFB. Evidently, under the current CEO, Eric Cooper, the San Antonio Food Bank has witnessed triple distribution of grocery and food products to persons in need since 2001. To this end, the SAFB has achieved sufficient ground in feeding the hungry people of South west Texas. References Colvin, Philip. "San Antonio Food Bank Program Guide." hungercenter.org. hungercenter.org, 1 Feb. 2005. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. . Ott, J. Steven , and Lisa A. Dicke.Understanding Nonprofit Organizations: Governance, Leadership, and Management. n.a: Perseus Books, 2011. Print. Read More