GOLD2022

My Brother's Table, Inc.

Nourishing our neighbors since 1982

aka the Table   |   Lynn, MA   |  http://www.mybrotherstable.org

Mission

To nourish our community every day through hospitality, free meals, and unconditional love.

Ruling year info

1982

Executive Director

Ms. Dianne Kuzia Hills

Main address

98 Willow St

Lynn, MA 01901 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

04-2794047

NTEE code info

Food Service, Free Food Distribution Programs (K30)

Meals on Wheels (K36)

Congregate Meals (K34)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2020, 2019 and 2018.
Register now

Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

The city of Lynn is populated by around 100,000 individuals. Over 40 percent are low or very low income families who have a difficult time affording housing and other basic human needs. Over 7 % of the population is unemployed. 19.6 % of the population live below the poverty level. One in 5 people living in the city are considered to be food insecure, meaning that they do not have the resources to guarantee adequate access to proper nutrition. Hunger and poverty continue to exist in Lynn where housing costs consume the majority of the limited incomes of its residents. My Brother's Table serves any and all people in need of food and/or companionship through our free meals provided 365 days a year.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

My Brother's Table

My Brother's Table (MBT), opened in 1982, is committed to offering hospitality to all. The Table provides nutritious, free meals in an atmosphere of love and kindness. The Table does not impose any eligibility requirements on guests, everyone is welcome. MBT serves elders, families with young children, veterans, people with disabilities, the under and unemployed, and people who are homeless.
The Table is located in downtown Lynn, Massachusetts. Since March of 2020, the Table serves meals all day during the week, and half-days on the weekends. MBT also delivers a week's worth of prepared meals every week to 24 individuals or families whose main meal provider is too ill to cook or travel to the Table. Additionally, MBT provides meals to local programs serving very low income residents, like the local medical respite, free of charge.
The Table relies solely on private donations and does not seek Local, State or Federal grant monies.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Children and youth

Where we work

Videos

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Our goal is to provide nutrition to as many people in the city of Lynn as possible and we aim to do this with the practices of hospitality and unconditional love.

My Brother's Table is committed to the ethic of offering hospitality to all. The Table provides nutritious, free meals to all in an atmosphere of love and kindness.
We believe that all people are deserving of nourishment; of body, spirit or both, and therefore the Table does not impose any eligibility requirements on guests; everyone is welcome to eat and enjoy one another's company.
Because hospitality is paramount to the services the Table offers, the Table does not seek nor accept any government money, or money from any funder who requires the disclosure of personal information in order to receive assistance.

My Brother's Table has a deep belief in serving our community while relying on the active participation of our community. For over 39 years we have raised funds from our neighbors and other supporters and relied on thousands of volunteers each year to help us with our work. We have never used government funds and we have never hired a fundraising vendor to raise funds for us. We believe that doing good work with strong community partners leads to genuine support that can and does sustain our efforts. The Table has always raised our funds through a variety of approaches: direct mail to current supporters, cold mailings to neighbors, grant writing to private entities, fundraising events and solicitation of planned gifts.

The Table has served over 5 million meals since 1982. Initially, those meals were only onsite and only dinner. We now deliver meals, serve meals through community partners, serve meals daily onsite, provide health and advocacy services.
We aim to continue to improve our meal service, both in its quality and it's reach to neighbors who remain in need.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    They are any in-person or remote users of our meal programs.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, we use the information to add programs and to tailor our meal selections., To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    We began providing packaged meals off-site to families with young children because families reported having difficulty bringing their children out every evening.

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback

Financials

My Brother's Table, Inc.
lock

Unlock financial insights by subscribing to our monthly plan.

Subscribe

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.

lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build 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.

lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build 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.

My Brother's Table, Inc.

Board of directors
as of 05/04/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Mr. Jason Sidman

Diane Conlon

Judith Jamieson

Jason Levine

George Sonia

Donna Coppola

Mary Magner

Marissa Walsh

Steve Kotsakis

Leonard Spada

Emily Packer

Jason Sidman

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

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 ? Yes
  • 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? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 3/15/2022
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

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
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female
Sexual orientation
Decline to state
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.

Equity strategies

Last updated: 03/15/2022

GuideStar 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

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
Policies and processes
  • 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 measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.