Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina

Distribution of Nutritional Foods Community Food Rescue (CFR):Community Food Rescue gathers and distributes perishable foods such as produce, dairy, restaurant and bakery items that might otherwise be discarded. The food is picked up daily and delivered on the same day at no cost to our agencies that feed on-site. This program annually saves almost 8.8 million pounds of food in our service area across 36 agencies in North and South Carolina.Distribution of Produce, Meat, Seafood, and Dairy:SHFBM places a special emphasis on soliciting and distributing highly nutritious foods including produce, meats, dairy and seafood, needed for balanced and healthy diets. These are often foods that people living in poverty are unable to afford. In 2022-2023 SHFBM distributed 47,073,309 pounds in these categories.

Grocery Product Collection and Distribution:Overall Product Distribution: Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina(SHFBM) received 75,041,086 lbs of grocery and household product from almost 250 local donors(excluding individuals and companies doing food drives), national sources coordinated by Feeding America, USDA Commodities, and purchases in 2022-2023. SHFBM distributed 78,363,078 bs of this product to over 950 partner agencies through our 24 county service region of North and South Carolina and to other food banks in 2022-2023.Purchased: In 2022-2023 SHFBM received 3,367,335 in grants and donations restricted for food purhcases. These gifts enabled the food bank to secure highly nutrious products that are rarely donated. Salvage: At the main warehouse of SHFBM, nonperishable foods and non-food items donated from food drives and salvage centers are sorted and packaged for distrubtion to our partner agencies. This project is one of our most popular volunteer activities. A total of 4,654,462 lbs were processed during the fiscal year. Our Partner Agencies: In the past year, Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFBM) supported over 950 partner agencies feeding the hungry in our 24 county service region spread across North and South Carolina. These agencies include emergency pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, low income daycares, kids cafes, backpack and senior programs.Government Commodities: While the majority of the Food Bank's product is donated by wholesalers, retailers, and the general public, 8,850,525 pounds came from government commodities and the State Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Government Commodities come from the Department of Agriculture in North Carolina and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture. These commodities are distributed to agencies based on the poverty levels in each county. With our share of the state funds ($526,016), we purchased highly nutritious food from North Carolina businesses for distribution to emergency pantries in the 14 counties we serve in NC. Government Commodities Commodity Supplemental Food Program(CSFP):SHFBM and our partner agencies take part in providing highly nutritious food boxes to qualifying seniors under the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). Each month, these seniors are able to receive a box of food containing items sent by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture. In 2022-2023, SHFBM and their partner agencies distributed, 1,344,643 pounds (32,619 boxes) to seniors in 16 counties within North Carolina and South Carolina.Ending Child and Senior Hunger Kids Caf: SHFBM believes that no child or senior should ever go hungry. Two of our major goals are to implement programs that help us end child and senior hunger in our region. These programs include: Kids Caf, Backpack Program, and Second Helping Program.Kids Caf: This program works with partner agencies that serve at risk children. Examples include: Boys and Girls Clubs, Communities in Schools and low-income day cares. The Food Bank makes it possible for these agencies to add a feedingcomponent so that at-risk children can have access to nutritious meals and snacks. As of the end of 2022-2023, SHFBM had 29 Kids Caf sites in 5 different counties. Ending Child and Senior Hunger Backpack Program:SHFBM believes that no child or senior should ever go hungry. Two of our major goals are to implement programs that help us end child and senior hunger in our region. These programs include: Kids Caf, Backpack Program, and Second Helping Program.Backpack Program: This program provides backpacks full of nutritious, ready to eat foods on weekends and holidays when school meals are not available. As of the end of 2022-2023 SHFBM had 436 Backpack sites in 20 different counties.Ending Child and Senior Hunger Second Helping Program:SHFBM believes that no child or senior should ever go hungry. Two of our major goals are to implement programs that help us end child and senior hunger in our region. These programs include: Kids Caf, Backpack Program, and Second Helping Program.Second Helping Program: This program provides monthly food boxes to homebound seniors in 3 counties in our region. Boxes are delivered by our partner agencies on regular Meals on Wheels routes so that these seniors may remain in their homes.Volunteerism:Volunteers from all segments of our community (individuals, corporations, faith-based groups, schools, community service workers and others) make a huge contribution to SHFBM. In 2022-2023 volunteers donated 276,686 hours to SHFBM. Collectively, the financial impact of these volunteer efforts was over 7.6 million dollars calculated at $27.63 per hour. This hourly amount is set by the Independent Sector, a leadership forum for charities around the world.