GEMMAS ANGELS LIMITED
CHANGING THE WAY WE FEED THE HUNGRY
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our mission to increase the amount of fresh produce available to clients of food banks, homeless shelters and soup kitchens in our two-county region of Lebanon and Dauphin counties. We further wish to increase the knowledge of at-risk children and families in the food deserts in our service area in the areas of sustainability and the benefits of eating local, fresh food.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Donate-a-Tomato
We solicit fresh produce from home gardeners, volunteers then pickup that produce and we distribute to food banks, homeless shelters and soup kitchens.
Mobile Farmer's Market
Gemma's Angel's Mobile Farmer's Marker program has been the mainstay of our mission since our inception.
This program connects the fresh produce of local farms with a variety of Gemma's Angels partner agencies including food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters. Through this partnership, we are able to provide more nutritious food to the working poor, the poor and the homeless across Dauphin and Lebanon Counties, contributing to health and wellness.
Produce is offered to organizations that have the structure and capacity to efficiently prepare, serve and/or distribute the produce on a timely basis to the individuals and families they serve.
Our fresh produce is sourced from local farmers, purchased from farm markets and at produce auction.
In 2016, we received a local Casino Gaming Gaming Grant from Dauphin County to purchase a used shuttle van which has been converted to a mobile farmer's market. Our client sites simple hop on board the vehicle when we stop, choose whatever they wish for free; then we move on to the next client facility. This is reminiscent of the butcher, tea man or other vendors who would stop at homes in the 1940's and 1950's.
Farmer Andrea & Andy Project
The Farmer Andrea & Andy Project is an educational program for at-risk children to generate enthusiasm for eating fresh fruits and vegetables and to teach agricultural sustainability
All-Kids Farmer's Mobile Market
After hearing about a program in Sacramento, California, we have added a very interesting and unique use for our new mobile market--an All-Kids Mobile Farmer's Market!
The vehicle, filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, will visit school backpack programs, summer camps, food banks, schools--anywhere there are kids! Children will enter the vehicle and, with the help of adults or perhaps older children, they will have their own choice of fruits and veggies. We will also add a small educational component to their choice i.e. if we have tomatoes, we will have a small sign pointing out that tomatoes have Vitamin C, etc.
Sacramento's program has been quite successful and their observation has been that kids who make their own choice tend to actually eat what they choose. They also bring them home including their families in the decision, often helping to prepare of cook with them. Thus, our mission of increasing consumption of at-risk children and families using having more fresh fruit and vegetables is met!
The images above show the vehicle purchased as is. We are currently having it inspected and will add a "wrap" of various colors and showing lots of smiling children and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables [similar to the vehicle see in the first image]. This will be the first such vehicle and program and, to our knowledge, the only All-Kids Farmer's Market program of its kind in Pennsylvania.
To drive, you must have a PA operator's license with a good driving record and be at least 25 years old. To volunteer, you must be at least 18 years of age but can be accompanied by a parent if you are age 12 and above. All adults involved in this program must first obtain a Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance before participation. A clearance is free of charge for volunteers and is available online.
Operation Santa
Each holiday season, we conduct several parties, arrange a visit with Santa and help him purchase very nice gifts for the children. We typically served 25 to 30 children each year.
For the past seven years, however, our Operation Santa has now spread to four shelters in Harrisburg.
For Christmas of 2015, we provided gifts for 115 boy and girls in homeless shelters. Of course, we get the real Santa from the North Pole! "Go ahead," we tell the kids, "Tug on that beard!"
Farmer Andy & Andrea
The Farmer Andy Project is an educational program for at-risk children to generate enthusiasm for eating fresh fruits and vegetables and to teach agricultural sustainability. This would include:
Develop materials and/or locating sources for materials (pamphlets, flyers and handouts) for at-risk children and their families on the advantages of eating fresh fruits and vegetables
Develop a "Pledge” card that kids could sign that asks them to eat five fruits and vegetables a day
Design a booth (or work with a professional designer/manufacturer) to be used at various health fairs and family events. The booth would be colorful, fanciful, appealing to children and would include photos of fruits and vegetables
Work with a costumed character manufacture for the purchase and development of a "Andy the Farmer” character to encourage children to eat fresh fruits and vegetables and develop a market program surrounding said character
Develop a merchandising/marketing program involving "Andy the Farmer” to include plush, stickers, coloring books, bookmarks, pencils and other similar items that are to be given to children attending community events, health fairs and at school and class functions. We also intend to work with area food banks to have our volunteers and "Farmer Andy” during times when families have their children at those facilities.
The Farmer Andy mascot will visit/attend community events, summer day camps, health fairs and at school events, etc. and will also escort, when available, our Truck Farm Trailer visits.
Develop a program for several levels for children (pre-K, K-3 and 4 and up) on nutrition/sustainability/food education curriculum for our future Truck Farm program following the guidelines as set forth at www.TruckFarm.org
Where we work
Awards
External reviews
Videos
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
We buy fresh fruit and vegetables from local farmers--or local gardeners--and distribute that produce free to soup kitchens, shelters and food banks using our new Mobile Farmer's Market.
Using the Mobile Farmer's Market vehicle, we operate an All-Kids Mobile Farmer's Market where school-age children can pick and choose their own produce to take home to supplement weekend feeding programs and we add an educational component about nutrition.
We operate a Reverse Food Truck which appears at local public events and collects food (produce) vs. selling food.
We also own a Truck Farm Trailer which is a traveling, edible garden-on-wheels that teaches young children the job of growing food. It gives them a hands-on look at the source of the food that fuels their growing bodies and minds.
Gemma's Angels Truck Farm Trailer currently appears at local community events. We plan to have the Truck Farm Trailer visit youth groups, camps, schools, etc. to deliver interactive and educational lessons about the benefits of nutritious produce. It's all designed to engage young people in healthy eating and to teach sustainability.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
First and foremost, we require adequate numbers of volunteers and funds to conduct there operations. Through the use of VolunteerMatch, we have recruited over 250 volunteers over the Fall and Winter who have indicated their willingness to help.
We are now devising fundraising strategies to ensure that we have adequate funding to purchase enough produce for at least two distributions per week. We will need vehicle fuel and associated supplies to accomplish this mission. In order to do this, we need sustaining donors. With this in mind, we have begun a "$10 For Good" Campaign asking donors to give at least $10 per month to fund our operation.
In addition, we plan three major fundraisers to gather local citizens to inform them of our work and to further encourage sustaining donors. To fund our current goals, we require 100 donors to give $10 each month. With a population of 75,000 in our metropolitan area, we should have adequate numbers to sustain that growth.
To further accomplish this, we need four or five large donors giving $500 to $1000 each to fund our initial efforts.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our recruited base of volunteers will provide us for a start as to having a capacity to accomplish these goals.
On the administrative end, we also purchased DonorTools and Volgistics software to professionally manage our donors and volunteers. Now, we will be able to automatically and immediately provide a letter or email of thanks to our donors, however small. In addition, we will have a good tool to manager our volunteers and manager the number of hours they work, schedule them appropriately, etc.
Our social media effort is also becoming more sophisticated. We are taking on two volunteers who perform social media work for their employers. This will increase our public footprint in an area where there is quite a bit of competition for fewer and fewer contribution dollars.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We have accomplished the following:
- We have secured funding for our All-Kids Mobile Farmer's Market to conduct a once-a-week program in the City of Harrisburg Schools. Funding is provided by UPMC Harrisburg Hospital.
- The Truck Farm Trailer project is now on the road and fully operational. The cost of construction is fully-funded.
- We only have adequate funding to pay for one distribution per week and our goal is a minimum of TWO per week.
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
GEMMAS ANGELS LIMITED
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Michael Macchioni
Nelva Wright
City of Harrisburg Health Officer
Kristine Walmer Stern
Michelle Willard Hoffer
Kelli J Young
Penn State Hershey Medical Center
Amy M Tobin
Scott Scott Schuyler, B.S., M.Ed.
Milton Hershey School
David A Allwein
Jason M Macchioni
Matthew J Macchioni
Joni Macchioni Rockhill
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/01/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.