PLATINUM2024

FILLING IN THE BLANKS INC

Norwalk Ct., CT   |  www.fillingintheblanks.org

Mission

Filling in the Blanks fights childhood hunger by providing needy children with meals on the weekends.

Ruling year info

2014

Co-President/Co-Founder

Shawnee Knight

Co-President/Co-Founder

Tina Kramer

Main address

346 Main Ave., Suite 3A

Norwalk Ct., CT 06851 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

46-4980002

NTEE code info

Emergency Assistance (Food, Clothing, Cash) (P60)

Emergency Assistance (Food, Clothing, Cash) (P60)

Emergency Assistance (Food, Clothing, Cash) (P60)

IRS filing requirement

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

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

No parent should ever have to tell their child that there is nothing left to eat, yet that is what thousands of children in Fairfield county hear each week. Reported by the Map the Meal Gap, Connecticut, one of our country’s wealthiest states, has more than 140,000 children who are not sure where their next meal will come from, with about 33,000 of those children living in Fairfield County. Most of these children will eat breakfast and lunch at school every weekday, but many will go from Friday lunch until Monday morning without a decent meal. We call those children Food Insecure.

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?

Weekend Backpacks

Filling in the Blanks provides food on the weekends to children that qualify for government sponsored free or reduced lunch programs and children that are part of the A.L.I.C.E. Population. By removing the obstacle of food insecurity, children will experience increased academic achievement in school and heightened opportunities for success in their lives. Our program assists in filling the gap over the weekend when these children do not have access to healthy meals, if they have access to food at all.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Economically disadvantaged people

Filling in the Blanks provides weekend summer meals at various distribution points in Connecticut.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

During the holiday season, in addition to the weekly food program, Filling in the Blanks has created an annual holiday backpack program. The holiday backpack is filled with a grade appropriate book, hat, scarf, gloves, socks, toys, pancake mix, and syrup. Each student in our program receives one of these backpacks. For many of our students this might be the only gift they receive during the holidays.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

Mobile pantry distribution of food to families in low-income neighborhoods. This compliments the weekend meal program, providing fresh fruits and vegetables, grains, proteins, dairy products. There are wrap around health and wellness services provided by a range of community partners.

Population(s) Served
Ethnic and racial groups
People with disabilities
Pregnant people
At-risk youth
Economically disadvantaged people

Where we work

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of participants engaged in programs

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people

Related Program

Weekend Backpacks

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Number of kids in our weekend meal program.

Number of new programs/program sites

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people

Related Program

Weekend Backpacks

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of weekend bags of food distributed

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

There was an increase in 2020 due to Covid. We delivered weekday meal bags as well as added 7 weeks to the program.

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

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.

Filling in the Blanks alleviates weekend and summer food insecurity by providing weekend bags of food to children in local communities. By uniting local organizations and community residents thru volunteer opportunities. By raising awareness to childhood hunger and providing a solution, we will continue to reach children in need. Providing nutritional food support to the youth in these Connecticut families is essential to breaking the cycle of hunger poverty.

Filling in the Blanks is bridging the gap between school Breakfasts and lunch programs, by providing essential nutritional support. Each week children are sent home with a bag of food for the weekends. The program is run during the schools year and in the summers.

Filling in the Blanks will continue to do outreach in the communities that we serve to reach more children in need.

Filling in the Blanks works hand in hand with local community members. By involving local grocery stores, community outreach and youth programs, we are able to maintain and grow our donor base. Enlisting the help of local volunteers and partnering with other like-minded organizations provides the volunteers and funding necessary. We Actively reaching out to school principals, social workers and school nurses we can identify students in need and expand our program. Allowing for rapid expansion our weekend meal program.

Filling in the Blanks has grown from serving 50 children in 2013 to 4700 in 2024.
Filling in the Blanks has launched 5 school based pantries in Middle and High Schools.
In October, FITB launched a mobile pantry Fresh Food on the Move, which has delivered 250,000 LBS of fresh food.
Filling in the Blanks is a member of various food collaboratives that are making a big dent in food insecurity.

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.

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

    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 strengthen relationships with the people we serve

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

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, 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 tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback

Financials

FILLING IN THE BLANKS INC
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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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.

FILLING IN THE BLANKS INC

Board of directors
as of 04/23/2024
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board co-chair

Shawnee Knight

Filling in the Blanks

Term: 2014 -


Board co-chair

Tina Kramer

Filling in the Blanks

Term: 2014 -

Doug R. Knight

Worldtek

Micheal Kramer

Tom Conheeney

Michael Johnson

Sue Mirza

Michael Johnson

J5

Laura Waitz

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? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 2/12/2021
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:

Gender identity
Female

The organization's co-leader identifies as:

Gender identity
Female

Race & ethnicity

No data

Gender identity

Transgender Identity

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 02/12/2021

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 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.