Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma
Fighting Hunger, Feeding Hope
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
While Oklahoma usually falls in the top five states for the number of hungry people, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our area is experiencing a sharp increase in the number of people who are needing our help for the first time. Feeding America’s 2018 Map the Meal Gap study was released in May, 2020. The organization released a companion study and interactive map that illustrate the projected impact of the pandemic on local food insecurity in 2020. This study predicts the food insecurity rate in our service area will rise to 22% as a result of the pandemic, a 7% increase over the pre-COVID-19 food insecurity rate of 15% in our service area. Now more than ever, healthy food is crucial to our low-income families’ livelihood.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Food for Kids
Food for Kids focuses on feeding children and their families when they are most in need: during summer, after school, at home, and over school vacations. It is a five-part initiative:
- Backpack Program provides weekly bags of food to students at risk of hunger over the weekends, focusing on elementary and middle school children. Site coordinators work with teachers, counselors, and nutrition personnel to identify students most at risk of hunger over the weekend. Children receive nutritious, kid-friendly food to take home on Friday to ensure they have access to food over the weekend.
- Free Family Farmers' Markets provide fresh produce and bakery items to low-income students and their families. The markets serve eleven Community Action Project early childhood education sites and three Tulsa Educare schools. Families participate based on identified needs from school sites. Fresh produce is vital to the healthy development of young children's minds, bodies, and healthy eating habits.
- Summer and School Break Feeding feeds youth in high poverty areas in the Tulsa metro during summer when students are out of school and during school breaks. Feeding sites serve lunch in low-income neighborhoods at libraries, community centers, parks, and nonprofits.
- School Pantries are located on the grounds of a school to provide more readily available food assistance to low-income high school and middle school students and their families. Sites are consistently in the same location on the school's campus, have set distribution schedules, and offer ongoing food assistance services.
- After-School Feeding programs provide free meals to low-income kids at after-school programs. Since a lot of low-income children rely on school breakfast and lunch, After-School Feeding ensures children have a meal before going home.
Food for Kids Programming ensures food-insecure children in our communities have a reliable resource for nutritious food throughout the year.
Cooking Matters
Cooking Matters educates and empowers low-income families with skills, knowledge, and confidence to make healthy, affordable meals.
USDA Commodity Distribution
The Food Bank distributes USDA commodities to our Partner Agencies to provide to hungry eastern Oklahomans.
Senior Feeding
The Food Bank's senior feeding initiative includes two parts: Senior Servings and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). Senior Feeding provides a level of independence and dignity for all clients. Seniors receive assistance through an application process in low-income housing complexes, senior centers, and congregant meal sites. Seniors must meet income requirements based on the federal poverty guidelines to qualify for assistance. Currently, senior food distribution takes place monthly or twice a month at 41 sites in 18 counties.
- Senior Servings is privately funded and has a higher income threshold to qualify. This allows us to still serve struggling seniors who have a monthly income slightly higher than that required for CSFP assistance. Food kits include a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, low-fat dairy products, and items low in sodium and sugar. Sites distribute pre-packed bags of shelf-stable food, and most sites also provide a choice of fresh produce and bakery items. The food items are chosen with senior dietary considerations in mind, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Income guideline: $1,926/month or less.
- CSFP is a program of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Food Bank staff work with the USDA to identify high need areas for seniors in our service area. Food for this program comes directly from the USDA and the Food Bank is responsible for all costs associated with distributing it. Through this partnership, we are able to receive a steady source of healthy food for hungry seniors. Each food kit contains shelf-stable fruit, juice, veggies, cheese, milk, meat, plant-based proteins, cereal, and pasta—all low sodium, low sugar, and whole wheat. CSFP food is provided monthly. Income guideline: $1,354/month or less.
Clinic Pantries
The Clinic Food Pantry Program alleviates hunger of chronically sick low-income people through the provision of nutritious food to patients in a clinic setting.
Mobile Eatery
The Mobile Eatery (ME) project is two food trucks that travel to low-income communities to serve healthy meals to children when school is out. ME also partners with efforts to promote self-sufficiency, such as GED classes and health screening events. ME provides meals during Partner Agency pantry distributions and at veterans outreach sites. Unlike brick-and-mortar programs, ME efficiently serves several locations in a matter of hours. ME serves meals to areas in the community with high food insecurity and mobility challenges while maintaining an atmosphere of dignity for clients.
College Campus Pantry
The College Campus Pantry provides meal components such as fruits, vegetables, protein, and grain items to low-income, struggling college students and their families.
Partner Agency Food Distribution
The Food Bank distributes food to 350 Partner Agencies in the 24 counties of eastern Oklahoma: Adair, Cherokee, Choctaw, Craig, Creek, Delaware, Haskell, Latimer, Le Flore, Mayes, McCurtain, McIntosh, Muskogee, Nowata, Okmulgee, Osage, Ottawa, Pittsburg, Pushmataha, Rogers, Sequoyah, Tulsa, Wagoner, and Washington. Agency programs include on-site feeding programs, emergency shelters and food pantries, children and senior feeding programs, veterans’ outreach initiatives, disaster relief, and other low-income programs that have a meal component. All of these programs provide food free of charge to people struggling with hunger in the community.
Mobile Food Pantry
The Mobile Pantry Program directly serves clients in areas of high need to supplement other hunger-relief agencies in that area. The Mobile Pantry distributes a truckload of food to clients in pre-packed boxes or through a farmers’ market-style distribution where clients choose to take what they need.
The Mobile Pantry Program expands the capacity of the Food Bank’s partner network to distribute food by removing barriers that prevent access to underserved areas, and allows for fast and flexible delivery of rescued food and grocery products, including meat, produce and baked goods.
Where we work
Awards
Champion of Oklahoma Health - Backpack Program 2011
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma
Champion of Senior Health 2014
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma
Dan Allen Award for Outstanding Social Justice Program 2014
Dan Allen Center for Social Justice
Top Notch Charity 2016
Charity Navigator
Partner of the Year 2016
Partners in Education
Advocacy Hall of Fame Legend 2017
Feeding America
Oklahoma Standards for Excellence 2017
Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits
Best Place to Volunteer 2018
Tulsa World
A-List Nonprofit Event - Empty Bowls 2019
Tulsa People Magazine
Beacon Award- Nonprofits Serving Nonprofits- Finalist 2019
Journal Record
Governor's Commendation 2019
State of Oklahoma
Living Our Values Award 2019
Feeding America
Best of Tulsa - Best Nonprofit - Finalist 2019
Tulsa Voice
Best Place to Volunteer 2019
Tulsa World
Dan Allen Award for Outstanding Social Justice Program 2014
Dan Allen Center for Social Justice
Affiliations & memberships
Feeding America 1986
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of meals served or provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The Year by Year Results are the total amount of pounds of food distributed.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn 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?
The Food Bank's goal is to distribute more food more efficiently through the following objectives:
- Improving our efficiency and food acquisition
- Improving the capacity of our Partner Programs
- Empowering our clients with education and guidance so they won't need help forever
- Improving the health and quality of food provided to clients by focusing more on the distribution of fresh produce
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We are able to work toward our goals through key partnerships in the community and the country. By partnering with over 350 Partner Agencies, we provide assistance to food-insecure clients in eastern Oklahoma. The Food Bank provides at least 50% of the food these agencies distribute to the hungry so they can spend their resources wisely to better accomplish their missions. Together with these programs, in 2020 the Food Bank distributed 525,450 meals every week. As a member of Feeding America, we are a part of a network of 200 food banks that serve every county in the United States. We are able to acquire a more diverse pool of funding and food through this partnership. We also partner closely with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City. While we technically serve separate parts of the state, we collaborate to feed all Oklahomans in the most efficient ways possible.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Food Bank's key capabilities include:
- Partnerships- Partnering with for-profit and non-profit organizations is core to the Food Bank. The Food Bank has 350 Partner Agencies which are other non-profit programs that together work daily to alleviate hunger in eastern Oklahoma. We are also increasingly being called upon in an advisory role for different community initiatives concerning hunger and poverty. This is because of our experience, knowledge base, and an extensive network of community partners. Through these partnerships not only is the Food Bank able to feed people, but it also educates and provides other necessary resources. We also partner with Feeding America and other food banks across the country to ensure the highest quality food is distributed through the most efficient means possible.
-Operations- The Food Bank operates as a hybrid of a non-profit hunger-relief organization and a warehouse, which has to operate similar to a for-profit business. The Food Bank does this successfully through guidance from Feeding America, local grocery stores, and food distribution companies.
- Procurement & Distribution- The Food Bank's ability to procure and distribute food through its connections within the food industry directly strengthens its ability to feed the hungry in our community.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
The Food Bank was founded in 1981, distributing just 90,000 pounds that year in Tulsa County. We have grown significantly, not just in the amount of food we distribute, but also in our service area, which now includes 24 counties. Since 2006, the Food Bank has increased its food distribution by more than 332%. In FY2020 the Food Bank distributed a record 32.8 million pounds, or 27.3 million meals, to people in eastern Oklahoma who struggle with putting enough food on the table. We have also shifted our focus to include a greater variety of fresh food and produce that is distributed. 43% of all food distributed is fresh produce, an increase of 114% over the last 5 years.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Mr. Tom Hutchison
GableGotwals
Mike McAndrews
Mariner Wealth Advisors
Tom Hutchison
GableGotwals
Lori Lewis Dryer
Peoples Pantry of Tulsa, Inc
Eric M. Kunkel
CCK Strategies
Shelley Allen
Kendall Whittier, Inc. Emergency Food Pantry
Randy Cowling
Owasso Community Resources
Donna McElroy Dutton
McElroy Manufacturing
Richard Ficken
Retired - WPX Energy Marketing, LLC
Jenna Garland
ONEOK, Inc.
Jeanne Jacobs
Community Volunteer
Scott Lewis
Optimus Industries, LLC
Carol Tandy
Self Employed
Lex Anderson
CAP Tulsa
Mercedes Millberry Fowler
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma
Laura Law
Fiber Pad, Inc.
Manny Rubio
QuikTrip Corporation
Wendy Brooks
WPX Energy, Inc.
Missy Brumley
Bixby Outreach Center
Ashlee Fox
Cherokee Nation
Jennifer Hua
The Williams Companies, Inc.
Christine McQueen
Bank of Oklahoma
Darren P. Walkup
Commerce Bank
Board leadership practices
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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
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
No data
Disability
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