PLATINUM2023

Securing Safe Food Corp.

Allergen-Free. Easily Accessible. In Food Pantries Across the US.

aka SSF   |   Glastonbury, CT   |  http://securingsafefood.org
GuideStar Charity Check

Securing Safe Food Corp.

EIN: 85-2281438


Mission

Securing Safe Food Corp. (SSF) is a national U.S. nonprofit working to fight food insecurity among individuals with food allergy, and to increase the accessibility of allergen-free foods. SSF aims to reinvent the food options that allergen-avoidant, under-resourced families are provided via nutritional assistance programs. Led by students, we are the geographically largest and only multi-state organization equipping food pantries with allergen-free foods while helping to ensure allergy-conscious grouping and distribution of specialty items—reserved for the households who require them.

Notes from the nonprofit

While the health of allergen-avoidant populations depends upon consistently allergen-friendly and affordable nutrition, research has documented that individuals with food allergy are at increased risk for food insecurity, and households from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are disproportionately affected—more likely to face adverse food-allergy outcomes, including food-induced allergic reactions. In many communities, food pantries are a convenient and primary (if not the only) provider of reliable, healthy no-cost food that does not require internet access. However, the majority of U.S. food assistance programs cannot accommodate individuals with medical dietary needs, and post-2019 global supply-chain disruptions have made specialty allergy-friendly foods more expensive and harder to source. By reinventing the allergen-free options that under-resourced households are provided via food pantries, we’re working towards a future of more equitable access to safe food, for everyone.

Ruling year info

2020

Principal Officer

Rachel Brooks

COO

Sydney Hankin

Main address

2389 Main St Ste 100

Glastonbury, CT 06033 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

85-2281438

Subject area info

Health care clinics

Nutrition

Immunology

Celiac disease

Population served info

Ethnic and racial groups

Economically disadvantaged people

IRS subsection

501(c)(3) Public Charity

IRS filing requirement

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

Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food insecurity as a “household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.” Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 11.1% of U.S. households reported being food insecure, and estimates suggest that rates of food insecurity doubled overall and tripled in households with children during the early pandemic. Alarmingly, also increasing globally are rates of food allergy, a chronic condition of the immune system in which exposure to a food allergen must be avoided to prevent potentially life-threatening allergic reactions. Food allergy affects 32 million Americans, and this number does not include individuals with other medical conditions that require avoidance of common allergens. To better ensure the health and safety of individuals with allergies and food-related medical needs, making access to allergen-free food more affordable and equitable in our food system is critical.

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?

Accessible, No-Cost Allergen-Free Foods

SSF supplies U.S. food pantries with consistent, allergen-free options that are more useful, varied, and nutritious for those with food allergies (FA), celiac disease, or other medical dietary restrictions. These pantries pledge to keep our food shipments segregated for allergen-avoidant households. We encourage clear labeling to facilitate FA awareness, inclusivity, and appropriate distribution of SSF foods.

In partnership with allergen-friendly food manufacturers, our program provides healthful and safe alternatives to “allergen-full” products. Some examples include dairy-free spreads and yogurt, gluten-free breads or baking mixes, and nut-free seed butters.

We currently serve nearly 30 food pantries in California, Connecticut, Florida (Orlando), Illinois (Greater Chicago), Massachusetts, Missouri (Kansas City), North Carolina (Greensboro), and New York.

Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Ethnic and racial groups

In 2022-2023, our CEO is researching food insecurity and food allergy-related inequities with Feinberg School of Medicine’s Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research (CFAAR). Studies include a food insecurity screening pilot in Lurie Children’s Hospital allergy clinics and an assessment of food allergy families’ experiences in nutrition assistance programs. The data will inform SSF’s education arm, including the guidelines we provide to our pantry partners.

Population(s) Served
Researchers
Economically disadvantaged people
Ethnic and racial groups

We partner with hospital clinics and academic medical centers to link food-allergic or allergen-avoidant individuals with a longterm food resource. Our clinical contacts refer food-insecure patients to SSF, who have the option of connecting with our programs. Patients can enroll in our food notification service and receive alerts when allergen-free foods are available in their local SSF food pantry. For example, our free food services accommodate Stanford study participants post-research intervention in obtaining allergen-safe foods through a pantry in Mountain View, California.

SSF also works to connect with our pantries’ existing client base through educational pamphlets, QR-code surveys, and feedback requests in both English and Spanish. By prioritizing direct client outreach, we identify our program’s strengths and weaknesses while at the same time extending our impact. Our unique pantry model and clinic referral system have potential for replication abroad.

Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Ethnic and racial groups

Where we work

Affiliations & memberships

Stanford University Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy & Asthma Research 2021

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 food pantries served

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

Economically disadvantaged people, Ethnic and racial groups

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

In 2023, we are serving 28 food pantries.

Number of food-allergy households receiving SSF foods, as reported by sample of 11 food pantries*

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

*11 food pantry survey respondents reported data on food-allergy households.

Number of celiac households served by SSF foods, as reported by sample of 10 food pantries*

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

Economically disadvantaged people, Ethnic and racial groups

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

*10 food pantry survey respondents reported data on households with celiac disease.

Number of households with other medical dietary restrictions served by SSF foods, as reported by sample of 10 food pantries*

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

Economically disadvantaged people, Ethnic and racial groups

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

*10 food pantry survey respondents reported data on households with other medical dietary restrictions. 3 respondents not shown reported total households with any medical dietary needs (1,033).

Total number of allergen-free food items distributed

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

These items include breakfast mixes, single-serve snacks, nondairy butter, cheese, and pudding, and granola.

Total pounds of allergen-free food distributed

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

In our 2022-2023 fiscal year, we have significantly surpassed this amount (2,505 pounds by January 2023).

Estimated dollar value of allergen-free food distributed

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

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.

SSF seeks to reduce food insecurity among households that must avoid common food allergens. To that end, we work to increase the number of U.S. food pantries accommodating those with food allergies, celiac disease, or other medically required diets.

The accessibility of allergen-free foods is key to our mission—we envision a food pantry system that offers healthful, allergen-safe options (i.e. access) and an inclusive experience (accessibility) for any individual with allergy or medical food needs to visit a local program, easily receive useful items, and feel understood.

By partnering with allergen-friendly food manufacturers, we facilitate delivery of allergen-free foods to our partner food pantries across the United States. SSF acts as a key intermediary, connecting impact-driven food brands to nutrition programs in which allergen-free donations are distributed to clients who medically require them. Our student volunteers prioritize collection of demographic and allergy data to ensure we match donations with the most appropriate pantry populations, and we operate on a system of clear communication from shipment to delivery. Public health research, education, and community action form the core of our food pantry and outreach programs.

Our student leadership brings an ambitious group of changemakers to the crossroads of food allergy, medical food needs, and food insecurity. Beyond SSF, our team members have published in allergy and immunology, met with members of Congress to discuss food allergy legislation, and networked with food allergy leaders, entrepreneurs, and nutrition professionals. Our ability to advocate and successfully partner with 100+ food manufacturers, medical practices, and nutrition programs has enabled us to extend our impact despite supply-chain and fundraising challenges.

In the past three years, we have collectively distributed over 26,750 pounds of allergen-friendly foods to 40+ food pantries in 11 U.S. states. This amount equates to over 99,400 individual allergen-free food items, including bread, nut-free seed butters, dairy alternatives, breakfast mixes, granola, and single-serve snacks. Today we consistently partner with nearly 30 food pantries in 8 states.

Our food output was at its height in 2020-2021, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, we witnessed high engagement from allergen-friendly manufacturers, eager to contribute excess inventory and support food-insecure families given the emergent food situation created by the pandemic. While supply-chain issues in 2021 prevented us from reaching prior food distribution levels, we focused on developing longterm relationships with key allergen-friendly industry brands through our Partner Program, in which manufacturers provide our partner food pantries with recurring shipments of allergen-free foods. Total pounds of Partner Program food distribution increased by 23.5% from our 2020-2021 to 2021-2022 fiscal year.

A recent priority is making allergen-avoidant individuals aware of our pantry network, including those who may not find our website. In summer 2022, we launched our medical referral program with Stanford University’s Sean N. Parker Center and Kansas City Children’s Mercy Hospital. These centers refer under-resourced patients to local SSF pantries and offer instructions on how patients may sign up with SSF to receive notifications when new allergen-friendly foods are available.

As we expand, we aim to provide more consistent and nutritionally balanced food shipments across our pantry network. Our goal is to offer standardized allergen-free package options, to be ordered by pantries on a recurring basis. Additional developments include expansion of our programs, technology to track pantry stock and distribution of SSF-provided foods, and the creation of grassroots chapters to raise awareness, fundraise, and increase local food accessibility.

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 shared information about our current feedback practices.
  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    SSF serves under-resourced individuals and families with food allergy, celiac disease, and other medical dietary needs. These other conditions may include Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE), allergic contact dermatitis, Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome (FPIES), non-celiac gluten sensitivity, gastroparesis, and other gastrointestinal disorders. We also act as an intermediary connecting impact-driven, allergen-friendly manufacturers with food pantry programs willing to support the SSF mission. Our services to outpatient medical clinics and hospitals help patients in need of safe food.

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

    SMS text surveys, Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Suggestion box/email,

  • 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,

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    Despite their intentions to accommodate specialty diets, our food pantry partners let us know that remembering to request allergen-free food via our online form was difficult. Especially during busy weeks, other priorities pile up. We created a monthly, automated email—with an easy-access link to our request form—as a helpful reminder, should pantries need more allergen-free stock.

  • With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

    The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

  • How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

    By distributing SSF educational materials, QR codes, and simple surveys, we encourage food-allergic and specialty-diet clients to leave feedback on our programs. We take all comments into consideration when revising our approach and welcome specific feedback on which allergen-free foods were most and least helpful. Our goal is to give clients a voice to express their specific food needs and preferences.

  • 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, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve,

Financials

Securing Safe Food Corp.

Assets info

BMF Data: IRS Business Master File

Financial data

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Securing Safe Food Corp.

Revenue & expenses

Fiscal Year: 2021

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Revenue
Contributions, Grants, Gifts $6,623
Program Services $0
Membership Dues $0
Special Events $0
Other Revenue $0
Total Revenue $6,773
Expenses
Program Services $201
Administration $768
Fundraising $0
Payments to Affiliates $0
Other Expenses $0
Total Expenses $969

Securing Safe Food Corp.

Balance sheet

Fiscal Year: 2021

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Assets
Total Assets $5,799
Liabilities
Total Liabilities $0
Fund balance (EOY)
Net Assets $5,799

Operations

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

Documents
Form 1023/1024 is not available for this organization

Principal Officer

Rachel Brooks

RACHEL BROOKS, 20, is a sophomore at Princeton University studying English, ancient Greek language and philosophy, and premedicine. Inspired by her experiences living with chronic gastrointestinal conditions and multiple food allergies, she founded Securing Safe Food (SSF) in 2020 to address the burden of medical dietary needs and increase access to low or no-cost allergen-friendly food. SSF has since become the geographically largest nonprofit equipping food pantries with allergen-free foods while helping to ensure allergy-conscious grouping and distribution of specialty items. Rachel is currently researching food insecurity and disparities in food allergy with Northwestern University’s Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research (CFAAR).

COO

Sydney Hankin

There are no officers, directors or key employees recorded for this organization

There are no highest paid employees recorded for this organization.

Securing Safe Food Corp.

Board of directors
as of 01/30/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board of directors data
Download the most recent year of board of directors data for this organization
Board chair

Rachel Brooks

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 ? 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? Not applicable
  • 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? Not applicable

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 12/28/2022

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

No data

The organization's co-leader identifies as:

No data

Race & ethnicity

No data

Gender identity

No data

 

No data

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 12/28/2022

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 ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • 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 have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • 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.