Dear Friends,

On October 25th of last year, we launched our new ‘Food Club & Opportunity Hub’. With you - our community of support - partnering closely with us, we took a huge step forward in service. At our six-month milestone, I’m proud to share with you some highlights of what we've accomplished to date.

• Over 1,466 qualifying, low-income families have received regular healthy food assistance at Food Club. That’s over 4,200 neighbors, in the first six-months alone!

• To best serve our guests, we’ve expanded our opening hours to 6 days weekly, powered by over 200 hours of volunteer service each week.

• Every single day, an average of 120+ neighbors arrive to ‘shop’ for the groceries they need but otherwise could not afford, here at Food Club. We’re currently welcoming over 3,000 guest visits every single month. That’s nearly 5 times as busy as we were at our former food pantry. And I’m incredibly proud to say that even at busy times, the community of trust and uplift we’re building shows - guests chat and laugh with our volunteers while waiting to check out, children push small toy shopping carts, etc.

Not only are we able to focus on reducing food insecurity with this welcoming, high-choice, partnership-based approach, but our Food Club has been successfully targeting nutritional insecurity as well - with our emphasis on fresh, healthy, appealing options that are otherwise out of reach for our low-income guests.

• Fresh vegetables and fresh fruits have been our top two food items shared!

• Guests have shared with us just how much this approach has ‘changed the way they eat’. They’re eating healthier than ever before, and excited to thank our team and volunteers as they share what this means for their health. One of our Food Club guests long relied on our former food pantry, and unable to walk and shop for himself due to his struggle with weight, needed assistance wheeling his chair through the food pantry. Recently, one of our longstanding volunteers saw him at Food Club and struck up a conversation. He was walking and pushing his own cart - and shared how he had lost 50 lbs over the past five months! He was proud to share how much his health had improved, and grateful for how integral Food Club has been in that process.

• We recently launched our healthy eating and nutrition classes in our demonstration kitchen, and have another 12+ scheduled for the coming months. What a great opportunity to build skills and community alongside our guests!

Photo from our first Healthy@Home cooking class, “Smart Snacking'“

The above is just a snapshot of how this program is already proving to be a game changer for our community’s approach to food and nutrition assistance for our low income neighbors. But of course, we designed our approach to streamline access to other resources, supports, and opportunities, and this is happening every week as well! From busy vaccination clinics, to partner programs like Help Me Grow and Resilience offering on-site services, to our own Financial Wellness team being fully subscribed for the first time in years, this focus on providing convenient, on-site access for our guests is already paying off.

We’re hard at work on new ideas to maximize opportunity and impact - and know that with you behind us, we’re just getting started.

Food Club Arrived at the Right Time

With rapid inflation, so many of our neighbors are seeing their budgets stretched past the breaking point. The cost of essentials - transportation, housing, food, etc - has historically risen much faster (1.8x as fast from 2008-2018) than general inflation. We’re seeing that again now. I am so glad that our community has Food Club, and that we are there for so many of our neighbors who aren’t able to handle these rapid changes on their own. Seniors, living on fixed incomes that aren’t keeping up with costs. Working families. People with disabilities. Food Club arrived at the right time, and I’m glad we’re there as a welcoming community of support, partnership, and opportunity for new neighbors who call on us, each and every day.

But, as an organization we’re also facing increased inflationary pressure. We purchase food every week. We fuel trucks and vans for daily food donation pick ups. We compensate our amazing team, who need wages that keep up with the cost of living. Because of inflation, our budget is growing faster than we would have anticipated.

• If you’re in a position to consider increasing your giving this year, or making an additional gift to help us keep up with these cost increases, know how much we appreciate it! Or if you’re able to consider becoming a monthly donor, know how much your consistent support means as we set our plans for the coming fiscal year (starting on July 1).

• We are a community-funded institution, and we can’t do it without you.

On behalf of our guests, team, and board, thank you for continuing to believe in what we’re working towards. Your trust and support powers our work to end hunger and poverty in our community. Thank you for continuing to stand with us.

Sincerely,

Scott Rumpsa