Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, Inc.

We work to support & empower the people we serve by increasing access to food & services, such as healthcare, employment skills, and nutrition education. The Food Bank’s Benefits Outreach Coordinators provide information and application assistance to seniors, working families, individuals living with disabilities, people without permanent addresses, and military families to bridge this gap & bring more federal dollars to our communities. The Food Bank was founded to address the community health issue of hunger. We understand that ensuring no one goes hungry must not only include access to food, but advocating for policies that benefit people in our communities and lift people out of the cycle of hunger. Goals for Building • Continue advocating alongside the people we serve utilizing the Public Policy Platform • Expanding our reach with new outreach strategies & workforce development opportunities. • Develop a Standardized Quality of Care procedure

In order to improve our capacity to distribute food safely and efficiently to people in need, the Food Bank works with our partner agencies to provide opportunities and support such as nutrition education materials, equipment (refrigerators, freezers, etc.), and training on fundraising, efficient operations, and food safety. The majority of our partners obtain most, if not all, of the food they distribute from the Food Bank, directly or through retail and agriculture partnerships. Particularly in the throes of the pandemic, this would not have been possible without our secure infrastructure of food resources and education. Goals for Building Innovation • 3 trucks to improve efficiency and the ability to distribute more food • Cultivate and grow efficiencies of the Retail Donation Program • Infrastructure investments in volunteer capacity, warehouse repairs, and equipment cost increases

The Food Bank’s vision is “No one goes hungry,” and while we work to distribute more healthy and nutrient-rich food every year, offer education tools and workforce development, and benefits outreach for partner agencies and individuals, we know that hunger will not end tomorrow. For this reason the Food Bank established an endowment fund to generate sustainable revenue for our community’s future. The Food Bank has worked since 1980 to serve our friends and neighbors in need, and thanks to the tremendous generosity and support of those committed to solving hunger, we will be a part of central and eastern North Carolina for as long as needed. Funding Needs • Our endowment provides certain, steady support permanently for tomorrow. Legacy gifts through your estate or planned gift will make a lasting impact on the future of our communities by funding the Food Bank's Endowment Fund.

Our dedicated staff goes into communities to meet folks where they already are: providing boxes of food right to their doors, operating grab n’ go meal sites, pantries at their schools and health centers, meals to take home on weekends and school breaks, hot foods at after-school care, and breakfast and lunch at summer camps. Every year, the Food Bank provides healthy food to children and seniors so they can build the skills to be healthy, connected, and whatever they want to be in life, and the Food Bank also advocates for the policies that ensure programs like these remain in reach. Goals for Nourishing Seniors, Children, & Teens • Safely and efficiently distribute 90 million meals including 29 million meals dedicated to nourishing children and teens in our 34 counties. • Provide 4 million meals through child nutrition and senior program sites

Over the Food Bank’s more than 40 years of operation, we’ve learned that systemic issues and lack of access to resources and programs lead to inequities in the communities we serve. Many people can experience hunger because of a lost job, injury or illness, divorce, unexpected expense, or some other episode. Communities that have been marginalized, such as the American Indian, Black, Hispanic, and rural communities face systems and policies that block their paths to a livable wage and a sustainable life. Goals for Nourishing Historically Resilient Communities • Safely and efficiently distribute 90 million meals — Increasing partnerships with organizations already serving communities that have been marginalized. — Sourcing food with an equity lens and dietary needs. — Implementing more ‘llast mile’ services to increase access to food for communities that have fewer options due to location or work schedules.

Through partnerships with local farmers and growers and investments in transporting and distributing fresh food, produce has become a staple at the Food Bank, and represented about 40% of the food that went into communities in 2022. We utilize our on-site teaching kitchen and video recipe hub to offer cooking demonstrations and nutrition education, and work directly with our Partner Agencies to implement choice and their own nutrition information. Goals for Empowering Health & Communities • Produce distribution of 41 million lbs. • Collaborate with community partners to support the creation of regional food councils and local food systems. • Ensure over 70% of food distributed is classified as Foods to Encourage—the most nutritious foods possible to contribute to good health. • Supporting and retaining 50 Healthy Pantries and 9 Healthcare-site Pantries (Food as Medicine focus), and continuing to onboard new sites.