Considerations When Starting a Food Program

Space
In order to qualify for membership with the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB), agencies must provide a secure, climate controlled environment in which to store ACFB product.  Product must be stored at least 6 inches off of the ground. Note: With rare exceptions, agencies cannot operate a food program out of a home.  This means that programs such as home-based daycares do not qualify for membership with ACFB.

Proper Use of Food
Any food obtained from ACFB must only be used for the approved food program.  It may not be used for other purposes (church anniversaries, barbeques for fundraising, etc.)  In addition, under no circumstances can the food program require fees for food, nor can the agency require individuals to work or volunteer in order to receive food from the program.  Agencies shall not store ACFB product at other agencies and shall not share Food Bank product with other agencies or organizations.

Staff and Staff Responsibilities
A solid staff is vital to operating an effective food assistance program.  The staff can be comprised of paid employees and volunteers.  Regardless of who operates the food program there are many responsibilities involved.

The list that follows describes the duties involved with food program administration.  While ACFB understands that many agencies may not have a different person to fulfill each responsibility, we recommend that each agency have at least two people to manage the food program.

• Food Program Management:  The person who manages the food program serves as the liaison between the agency and ACFB.  This person is the primary contact for ACFB.
  
  
• Financial Management and Accounting:  There are many costs associated with operating a food program.  A food program must be financially responsible.  All food programs are required to keep written budgets to account for purchases, donations, services and other expenses.  Accurate budget keeping is important because it enables agencies to make more cost effective decisions about food resources and related purchases.

• Record keeping:  Record keeping is a very important part of operating a food program.  All agencies are required to provide ACFB with specific information.  This information must be recorded and submitted on a monthly service form located in eHarvest (details are provided during new member orientation).  Required information is as follows:

  Food Pantries:
  Name and address of recipient
  Date of service
  Number in household
  Number of children
  Number of adults over 65
  Number of pounds given to each household
  Number of males and females in each household

  On-premise agencies:
  Dates meals are served
  The type of meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack)
  Number of persons served at the meal

  All agencies must:
                                  Keep a record of capacity turned away
                                  The ethnicity of people in each group served
                                  Keep copies of ACFB invoices for two years

• Fund Raising: The best financial resources a food program can use are monetary grants from donors and foundations.  Successful grant writing requires an effective grant writer.  If your agency needs help with grant writing, or if you would like to improve your grant writing skills, ACFB’s Seminar Series can assist you.  In addition, many food programs host or participate in various fundraising events to supplement their food program budgets.  The types of fundraisers that a food program may organize include car washes, bake sales, pot luck dinners, arts and crafts fairs and ACFB’s Hunger Walk.  If you need fundraising ideas, ACFB can assist you.
  
• Food Resources Management: Managing the food that a program distributes or prepares for clients is a big task!  The person who manages food resources should always know how much and what kind of food the program needs.  This includes securing as many food resources for the program as possible and ensuring that food is picked up and arrives at the food program. 

  Order placement:  Food programs place orders online in eHarvest.  Food programs must have access to a computer to place orders.
  
  Client dietary needs:  Address client concerns and improve services.  Take into consideration dietary restrictions that clients may have. 

• Volunteer Recruitment: Almost every food program that works with ACFB is operated by volunteers from the community.  The person in charge of volunteer recruitment finds volunteers to assist the food program with tasks such as unloading food from trucks, stocking shelves with food, preparing bags and distributing bags to clients.  The person who manages the volunteers keeps their contact information on file and schedules them for specific shifts and tasks.  The volunteer manager also logs volunteer hours and accomplishments so that the food program remains aware of volunteer contributions.  ACFB offers a quarterly seminar for volunteer training.
  
• Client Service Coordinator: In order to be effective and efficient, each agency needs to establish policies for operating a food program.  The person who coordinates client services works with clients and community to determine how the pantry should more effectively address client concerns and improve its services.  If clients have other needs that are not directly related to food, then the Client Service Coordinator should do his/her best to refer them to the appropriate resources.

• Intake Coordinator: Many clients are intimidated by, or uncomfortable with, the thought of going to food programs for assistance.  The person who coordinates the intake process for the food program welcomes new clients and explains how the pantry works.  The Intake Coordinator also records client information such as name, address and the number of individuals in the household.

Transportation
Since an agency is responsible for picking up its food orders from ACFB it must have the appropriate vehicle to transport the food back to the program site.  This means that the vehicle must be able to accommodate the total weight of any food order you pick up.  Many of our current partner agencies own vehicles, rent them or share transportation costs.  As long as the vehicle can accommodate your order, the type of vehicle you choose to use is up to you.  Please review the list below to learn what types of vehicles agencies use and the approximate poundage that each type can carry:

• Cars can accommodate between 50-500 pounds of food.
• SUVs can accommodate between 500-1,000 pounds of food.
• Pick-up trucks can accommodate between 1,500-2,000 pounds of food.
• Cargo vans can accommodate between 3,000-3,500 pounds of food.
• Four pallet box trucks can accommodate between 3,500-4,000 pounds of food.
• Six pallet box trucks can accommodate 5,000+ pounds of food.