Foodbank of Southern California
The Good Provider
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
1 in 4 people in Los Angeles County are food-insecure, and many are literally unsure where their next meal is coming from. Even before COVID-19, Los Angeles County had the highest number of food-insecure people in the nation. The Foodbank is committed to creating access to healthy food choices in the poorest areas of Los Angeles County, where working poor families, the indigent, and low-income individuals and families experience high levels of food insecurity. Currently, unemployment and poverty remain high and most families served lack living-wage jobs to lift them out of poverty. They need access to nutritional, affordable food, in order to lead healthy and productive lives. Healthy food availability varies by neighborhood. Economically disadvantaged and racial/ethnic minority neighborhoods have little access to local grocery stores with fresh fruits and vegetables.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Humanitarian Food Distribution Program
Key programs include:
• Emergency Food Assistance: provides highly nutritious USDA commodities to supplement the diets of food-insecure children, adults, families, and seniors.
• Supplemental Food Assistance: offers donated and purchased food assistance beyond USDA commodities -- with a focus on fresh produce and other perishable items -- to hundreds of charitable organizations to assure that dietary needs are met.
• Brown Bag Network for Seniors: provides free nutritious food bi-weekly to low-income seniors at volunteer-staffed distribution sites, and weekly to homebound/shut-in seniors.
• Mobile Food Pantries: distributes food, with a focus on fresh produce, to food-insecure individuals in the most underserved neighborhoods of Los Angeles County.
Where we work
Awards
4 Star Rating 2010
Charity Navigator
Seal of Excellence 2010
Local Independent Charitites of America
External reviews
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Estimated dollar value of food donations distributed to community feedings programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Humanitarian Food Distribution Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of entities served by expertise
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Age groups, Ethnic and racial groups, Social and economic status
Related Program
Humanitarian Food Distribution Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Nonprofit Agency Partners
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Seniors
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Brown Bag Network Program for low-income and food-insecure seniors. During Covid-19 Brown Bag Site shut down due to gathering restrictions. With widespread vaccinations, sites are now reopening.
Number of people within the organization's service area accessing food aid
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Humanitarian Food Distribution Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
This number now represents the number of people being served by The Foodbank.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
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?
The Foodbank's 2023 goals include:
-Provide at least 56 million pounds of highly nutritious food to an estimated 850,000 – 1,000,000 individuals.
-Increase the deployment of mobile food pantries into underserved neighborhoods.
-Sustain and expand the base of food donors thereby reducing the reliance on food purchasing to meet the needs of the community.
-Expand distribution to charitable organizations not currently in the agency network, as well as seek out areas of the community where there is limited access to fresh produce.
-Using targeted funding streams to strengthen the local food system, increase the purchase of locally grown food at least 3-fold.
-Using existing capital funds, purchase land for a community food hub to provide infrastructure support to the evolving food network.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The Foodbank solicits wholesome donations of nutritional food from the food industry and channels these products to charitable community organizations supporting low-income individuals.
The Foodbank directs its efforts towards procuring, transporting, sanitizing, repackaging, storing, and distributing large donations of nutritional food that community-based organizations are independently unable to handle due to the logistics of transportation, space, and refrigeration.
The Foodbank is deeply invested in building and sustaining relationships with our Nonprofit Partner Agencies to maximize services for those in need while eliminating duplication. The Foodbank continues to offer resources to our Nonprofit Agency Partners that best meet their needs.
Key Strategic elements include:
-Deploying mobile food pantries deep into neighborhoods that are considered “food deserts.”
-Bolstering food donations and food rescue efforts to offset higher food purchasing costs.
-Joining with new partners to increase the amount of protein and fresh produce available.
-Purchasing more from local farms and suppliers to strengthen the local food supply chain.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Foodbank has been feeding food-insecure children, families, and seniors throughout Los Angeles for 47 years. Through The Foodbank's humanitarian food distribution program, each month, hundreds of community-based organizations are feedings over a million people through emergency and non-emergency food programs in Los Angeles County. 96% of recipients are from low-income/working poor families.
Hundreds of volunteers contribute thousands of hours each year towards feeding the hungry.
Regardless of the economic conditions in the community, and the availability of highly nutritious donated food, The Foodbank continues to maintain uninterrupted service of nutritious food delivery for its existing program partners throughout Los Angeles County.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
THIS PAST YEAR
The Foodbank provided 35,683,143 million pounds of nutritious food to over 850,000 food-insecure individuals in Los Angeles County.
The Foodbank distributed over 50,776 free Brown Bags (average weight: 15 pounds) to 1,914 low-income seniors during bi-weekly distributions at community sites and weekly deliveries to the homes of seniors who are not able to access distribution sites.
The Foodbank added 22 non-profit agency distribution sites in 21-22 (bringing the total to 279) that distribute food weekly or monthly (there are over 700 partners who distribute occasionally). Most new partners focus on serving children and families.
The Foodbank added 11 new major ongoing food donors in order expand the quantity and variety of food we offer to food-insecure people in our region.
The Foodbank launched three mobile food pantry distributions as part of a major mobile food distribution initiative intended to expand our reach into underserved neighborhoods.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mobile Food Pantry Initiative:
The Mobile Food Pantry program brings healthy, nutritious food deep into underserved neighborhoods, many of which are known as food deserts. These neighborhoods have few if any supermarkets and are instead flooded with discount and convenience food stores. The Foodbank stocks its mobile pantries with fresh produce and other nutritious food and then sets up weekly or monthly distributions for children, adults, and seniors who live in the immediate neighborhood. We anticipate the program will serve over 15,000 people yearly.
Starting in May 2022, The Foodbank piloted a new mobile food pantry program using its existing vehicles to transport and distribute food. These are being used while we customize four mobile food pantry vehicles to be dispatched throughout Los Angeles County At least two of the mobile pantries will include a prep kitchen which will allow us to chop and partially prepare foods that are difficult for seniors and homeless individuals to prepare.
The Mobile Pantry Program is designed to ramp up over the next 3 years as the Foodbank outfits four new mobile pantries (funded with an existing capital grant) and deploys them throughout the county. In addition to distributing nutritious food through our mobile pantries, we will increase food security by offering food preparation demonstrations, nutrition education, CalFresh enrollment assistance, and linkages to other food-related resources at selected distributions.
Evolving Food Network:
In the last several years, there has been a proliferation of community gardens, urban farms, food rescue programs, farmer’s markets, and artisanal food production in our region, all of which play a part in the local food system. The Foodbank has developed a plan for using newly allocated capital funds to provide infrastructure support and to weave these disparate operations together into a stronger network, with a focus on our home city of Long Beach.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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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, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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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 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
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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
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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.
Foodbank of Southern California
Board of directorsas of 01/31/2023
Dr. Alice Harris
Parents of Watts
"Sweet" Alice Harris
Parents of Watts
Gregg Bynum
Hosanna Youth Center
Michael Barrett
Kindomtainment Media Group
Brian Weaver
Rhema Gospel Mission
Miguel Alvarado
Bradek Wholesale
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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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 ? Not applicable -
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
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
Equity strategies
Last updated: 04/29/2021GuideStar 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 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.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- 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 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.