Along with the rest of the world, Food for Hope is settling into the new normal after the COVID-19 Pandemic. The events of 2020 set in motion a period of rapid growth in our organization. A challenging economic environment led to skyrocketing rates of need and a sharp increase in demand for our services. At the end of 2019, Food for Hope had two employees, an annual budget of $196,500, and one food bank operating in schools. In the current fiscal year, we have 7 employees, our budget is targeted at just over $1 million, and we will be operating 10 food banks in the fall alongside our other programs and special projects.
As you can imagine, the last five years have been a dynamic time of increasing capacity and making our operations as efficient and effective as possible. However, Food for Hope has recently hit a wall in our ability to come alongside more schools and help more families in need. At our current location, we are out of physical space and unable to increase the amount of food we are able to receive and distribute each week. This fact has led to the creation of a waitlist for our services, which currently holds 5 locations requesting food banks that we cannot yet accommodate. Additionally, our space only has one cramped office for all of the staff to share and is not spacious enough for efficient food deliveries. Several times last year, large food orders took over 4 hours to be unloaded due to the logistical challenges of our location.
All of the factors above prompted our staff and board to undertake the strategic planning process over the last seven months. We discussed everything from the origin of Food for Hope to our renewed vision and hopes for how we can serve Adams County into the future.
Highlights of the Strategic Plan Include:
Food for Hope’s commitment to our founding principles and our culture of equality, deep relationship, compassion, and community.
In order to serve more families we will work to:
Strengthen operations efficiency & scalability.
Bolster our organizational infrastructure.
Continue to focus on culturally relevant, healthy, and locally sourced food.
Develop relationships across Adams County to increase resources and help meet the demand for services we are experiencing.
We will work toward reaching more underserved communities in the Eastern side of Adams County.
Additionally, I am very excited to share two big announcements!
First, Food for Hope has acquired a new space, and will be moving into a new building to start the school year! This new space will be the first office and warehouse space dedicated solely to our mission. This move will allow our organization to grow and provide more healthy, culturally sensitive food to local children in need. There will be more details to come, and we can’t wait to share our new home with the community.
Next, as Food for Hope celebrates 10 years of service to Adams County, we are looking forward to how we can better grow our mission. In September, we are launching a Growth Initiative with a goal of raising $2 million in 2 years! I hope that you will join us on what is sure to be an exciting journey ahead. It is so important for our organization to have partners who are invested in our mission. Please follow along with our monthly newsletter and on social media to be kept up on the latest of what is happening. Keep your eyes out for an invitation to an Open House this fall, where you can tour our new space and get a glimpse of our vision for the future.
