What is the Foodbank? The Foodbank is a not-for-profit clearinghouse that collects, stores and distributes useable surplus food to non-profit organizations, not individuals, who in turn, share with the people they serve. We utilize a warehouse with both dry and cold storage, trucks and a full-time staff. The Foodbank helps stop the waste of useable food by distributing I to the needy. Donated foods may come from over-production, underweight products, mislabeled containers, outdated products, improperly coded packages, partially damaged goods, discontinued lines, over-stocked merchandise, farm surplus or other sources.How does the Foodbank work? The Foodbank is a member of the Second Harvest National Food Bank Network. We collect and distribute food to our three county service area. Food producers, brokers, wholesalers, retailers and community food drives all participate in directing food to us. A 1976 tax law allows many of these sources to write off the entire cost plus half of their markup for donations to the Foodbank. We then schedule pickup at the convenience of the donor. Non-profit agencies that receive products from us are able to conduct their feeding programs in a cost-effective manner, since no donated food is ever sold by the Foodbank or by receiving agencies. Participating agencies support the Foodbank operations through a shared-maintenance fee, based on the pounds of food they receive.
Who uses the donated food? Annually, approximately 5 million pounds of food are shared with over 140 local feeding programs. We only distribute food to not-for-profit organizations such as food pantries, soup kitchens, group homes, non-profit nursing homes, non-profit day care programs, halfway houses, elderly day care programs, developmental centers or emergency shelters.
Foodbank Member Agency Information |
