New York Common Pantry

“The 990 is reviewed by the finance committee prior to submission to the executive committee for approval and filing.”

“The policy covers all board members, officers and senior staff, each of whom is to complete a signed conflict of interest form annually which discloses all actual or potential conflicting interests as of that date and commits to promptly disclose any conflict that may arise during the year to the board chair or the executive committee. Interested parties who may have an actual or potential conflict of interest will not participate in decisions affecting that interest and the organization as follows: such a director shall not vote on a matter in which he/she has an interest and shall not attempt to influence other directors regarding such a matter without first disclosing that interest. A majority of the board or committee may prohibit an interested director from participating in the discussion about the matter. In addition, all transactions with interested parties are reviewed by the executive committee to determine that they are fair and will benefit new york common pantry and not the interested party.”

“Executive director (2014), development director (2014) and director of programs (2014)- compensation research results, profiles and articles were attained from a variety of sources, including nonprofit coordinating committee of new york, professionals for nonprofits, chronicle of philanthropy, and charity navigator. Executive director presented salary increases for the development director and director of programs to the board of directors for discussion and vote. Nycp's board of directors established compensation for the executive director.”

“Form 990 is available for review on our website (www.nycommonpantry.org) and a copy of conflict of interest policy and other governing documents are available upon request.”

“During the past year new york common pantry (nycp) served 2,909,365 meals across programs. In addition, $4,311,257 in resources was accessed for nycp clients across all programs, and an additional $1,597,074 was acquired through partnerships with organizations that assisted members with tax filing/returns, health benefits, supplemental nutrition assistance (snap) and more. The combined total of these resources was close to $6 million. The majority of meals were provided to approximately 233,508 visitors in our choice pantry program, an increase of 22% from fy13. That figure comprised 26,039 distinct pantry members, a 16% increase in that program as compared to fy13. Another 66,217 breakfasts and dinners were served in our hot meals program while 7,768 brown bags were served on evenings when hot meals were not available; those numbers remained relatively flat compared to last year. Nycp also operated nutrition education and active living classes through its live healthy! Program. The live healthy! Program held 504 sessions during the year, an increase of 288 sessions or 133% from fy13. Live healthy! Served 927 distinct adults and children, a 70% increase over fy13. In addition the level of commitment/sessions attended in the live healthy! Program increased in fy 14, up to 6,384 class visits, up from 2, 704 in fy 13, a 153% increase. Nycp completed food distribution to communities impacted by superstorm sandy in september 2014, almost a year after the storm ravaged some of the neediest communities in new york city. Nycp served another 50,184 meals to these communities in fy14 before ceasing food distribution. To continue to address growing poverty in these already distressed neighborhoods, nycp increased non-food case management services through benefits access to far rockaways action center for community education and development through a partnership with the food bank for new york city's community response partners program. This program began operating in march, 2014 and accessed over $300,000 in resources for participants by the close of fy14. The total number of people served across all programs increased by 15%. Nycp estimates that an increase in demand is largely due to cuts to the supplemental nutrition assistance program (snap) which went into effect november 1st, 2013. Surveys of hot meal and choice pantry participants bore this out. 82% or 175 choice pantry participants indicated that their snap allotment had been cut. In response to cuts, 41% said they were attending nycp or other pantries, 26% had lowered the quality of food, 16% said they were skipping meals, 9% were attending soup kitchens for meals and 8% indicated "other" without further explanation.”

“Fy14: 14,195 volunteers worked 46,615 hours. That was an increase of 17% more volunteer hours than the year before. All told, volunteers performed nearly 50% of the total labor hours of the organization.”

“Recognizing the portable and nimble nature of the organization's program models, nycp continued to transport food to superstorm sandy impacted communities thru september, 2014, delivering 50, 184 meals. Upon completion of food delivery, nycp partnered with the food bank for new york city to launch a new mobile program, help 365 mobile, a case management program with an emphasis on maximizing income. The program provided resource screening and income access services to the far rockaway community starting in in march, 2014 and accessed $301, 706 for residents from that community. The return on investment (roi) for that program was $23.64 for every dollar spent on salary and fringe. Nycp piloted a culinary training program in fy 14, but not before performing a series of site visits to other organizations in new york city and washington d.c. To develop manuals, curriculum, eligibility screening, orientation and testing materials derived from the best field practices and materials. The program was launched in january of 2014 under the leadership of a social work intern and certified chef. The program developed culinary dimensions like knife skills, working with stocks, soups, poultry, meat, fish and emulsified sauces as well as developing soft skills like self-awareness, active listening, professionalism, interviewing training and resume writing, communication, assertiveness, conflict resolution teamwork and time management. Students were asked to cook with surprise ingredients for the culinary part of the final exam and an evaluation form was completed by participants and volunteers. Feedback was very positive and nycp will be looking to explore building this program as funding allows in future cycles.”

“1. In light of increasing demand, the choice pantry undertook three changes to increase output and efficiency: a) nycp added a second van to serve sandy impacted communities and to grow food rescue assistance in fy13 but the full impact of that van was felt in fy14. Food rescue and food picked up from food drives increased by virtue of this second van. The total increase was 21% over last year. B) nycp continued to encourage pantry members to use the online ordering system in order to minimize congestion during the busiest periods. By year end, about 10% of our pantry members ordered using the online portal, up from 8% in fy13 and 3% in fy12. C) due to an increase of over 400,000 meals in fy14 as compared to fy13, the number of staff and volunteer hours needed to serve those meals intensified. A plan was launched to add a senior food programs associate in fy14, and this was actualized at the start of fy15. In addition, more was asked of volunteers, and approximately 7,000 more labor hours were performed by volunteers in fy14 than in fy13.”

“The process for oversight of the audit of its financial statements and selection of an independent accountant has not changed from the prior year.”