Serving Our Neighbors Ministries

“The form 990 is prepared by a firm that specializes in assisting tax-exempt organizations with this type of filing. The completed form 990 is thoroughly reviewed by the executive director and treasurer. A copy is sent via email to each board member prior to being filed.”

“Board members are required to divulge all potential conflicts of interest immediately upon becoming aware of the possibility of conflict. Further, each board member is required to certify annually that no conflicts not previously divulged existed at any time during the year. The executive director is tasked with monitoring compliance with the policy.”

“The board of directors independently establishes all compensation. In doing so they exercise due diligence to ensure such compensation is reasonable in the circumstances by a) investigating what other similarly situated entities are paying, b) by referring to surveys of similar non-profit organizations to objectively determine the value of services rendered, c) by taking into account the general economic conditions as well as the unique financial condition of this organization and d) by documenting in writing both the decision-making process and its final outcome.”

“The board of directors independently establishes all compensation. In doing so they exercise due diligence to ensure such compensation is reasonable in the circumstances by a) investigating what other similarly situated entities are paying, b) by referring to surveys of similar non-profit organizations to objectively determine the value of services rendered, c) by taking into account the general economic conditions as well as the unique financial condition of this organization and d) by documenting in writing both the decision-making process and its final outcome.”

“The governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements are made available to the board members and officers of the corporation but are not made available to the public. Requests for review of these documents by outside parties are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.”

“SON MINISTRIES FESTA”

“Community service mission. The corporation will exist to serve our neighbors in poverty or those in need with christian compassion. It will provide direct services, referral processes, and synergy with other organizations to feed, educate and provide fellowship. The purpose of this assistance is to help families take steps toward spiritual, economic, and social stabilization with the goal of the families attaining self- sufficiency in the community. The corporation will provide education to children, families, adults, and the greater community to learn skills, english or understand poverty. The corporation will also provide access to church programming and prayer to fulfill the spiritual needs of our neighbors. This work is done for social justice purposes by ecumenical volunteers which shows the grace and love of god in our community.”

“The festa 3-generation family esl program takes place every monday through thursday evening from september-april and welcomes immigrants and refugees of all ages seeking to learn english. Parents can bring their children to festa friends club, which provides programming, academic support, and dinner for children in grades k-8, or to our early childhood classrooms which provide infant care and preschool programming for toddlers. High school students are welcome to join our teen internship program where they assist festa staff in leading activities, providing dinner and academic support. This year, our 3-generation family esl program served families from 59 different countries and served people from infants to grandparents, and everyone in between we welcomed families from 58 different zip codes across central ohio, as well as a virtual classroom for students without local transportation, or in other parts of the state, to join our program and the welcoming community that exists at festa. During the 2024-2025 school year, we welcomed 690 adults (136 online and 554 in person) with 476 children to total: 1166 people served by this program. Half of our mission is to mobilize the community to serve our neighbors and in this program, we recruited, trained and mobilized 496 volunteers (child and adults) who served 7,773 hours. In addition to the expense reported above, there was 60,648 in donated rent and 60,253 in professional services which were reported in the financial statements as contributions in program expense. For form 990, however, the irs requires that contributed services and use of facilities be excluded from both revenue and expense.”

“Free summer lunch camp now in its 19th year, the festa's free summer lunch camp welcomes children facing poverty from culturally diverse backgrounds to join us daily for friendship, recreation, reading support, special activities, and a nutritious, free lunch. Children who attend will participate in age-appropriate programming and eat a nutritious meal daily the summer lunch camp helps children who receive free or reduced lunch at school while school is not in session by serving free breakfast and lunch while facilitating camp activities including entrepreneurial learning. This program combats suburban poverty by providing children with a safe space to grow, learn, and be part of a supportive and positive community. During summer 2025, we welcomed 737 children and served a total of 8132 meals with 191 volunteers serving 3146 hours. In addition to the expense reported above, there was 84,418 in donated rent and 876 in professional services which were reported in the financial statements as contributions in program expense. For form 990, however, the irs requires that contributed services and use of facilities be excluded from both revenue and expense.”

“March 2023 festa started a social enterprise festa business esl where businesses can hire festa to teach english to associates and spanish to managers on-site before working hours, making it free and convenient for them. Being bilingual is a top business skill in the united states. Festa business esl allows companies to invest in their employees, offering them the opportunity to become bilingual. This will close the communication gap among coworkers, strengthening the team and help attract new employees while retaining quality talent. In 2025, we continued with one company and offered proposals to 1 global company. Festa offers training, coaching, and consulting, to help other cities run a festa program to serve their neighbors. Since 2008 to help churches, civic associations, local governments, school districts and other group of caring people provide crucial support to thousands of children and families facing poverty in their suburban neighborhoods. Topics include running our flagship programs of 3-generation family english and free summer lunch camp as well as poverty, cultural diversity, and volunteerism. In fy25, festa offered lewis center ohio a training proposal to start early fy26 to enable them to start a 3-generation family esl program in that city january 2026.”

“Direct fundraising expenses 1,591 direct fundraising expenses -1,591”