Blaine County Hunger Coalition Inc.

“The finance committee reviews the annual form 990 with the executive director. Once approved by the finance committee, it is sent out for review by all of the board members for questions, comments and general review.”

“If any conflicts of interest were to occur, the policy would be strictly enforced.”

“The executive director's compensation is reviewed annually by the executive committee of the board and increases are approved by the entire board. Form 990's of other local non-profit organizations were also reviewed to determine the executive director's salary.”

“The organization makes its governing documents available to the public upon request and on our webstite.”

“Volunteer duties include pick up and distribution of food; collation, pick up and distribution of snack packs and snacks; support for off site programs; assistance in the garden; office administrative assistance; support for mass mailings; support for events.”

“The following represents a reporting of accomplishments achieved from july 1, 2019 to june, 30 2020. The covid-19 pandemic brought with it unprecedented need in blaine county. The second half of our fiscal year saw historic numbers of people seeking help through our healthy food pantry. In total, we fed 24% of our community or 5,450 people in the reporting period. During the reporting period, the hunger coalition initiated a capital campaign to fund the bloom community food center (bcfc). After months of research involving focus groups with our participants, a feasibility study with donors and community leaders, and due diligence on the property, we purchased an older existing building on four acres of land across the street from our current headquarters. The renovation began may 1, 2020 with a goal to open in early 2021. Our plan is to create a modest, welcoming space. Of our 10 million campagin goal, 60% is dedicated to capital, 20% is focused on supporting increased operations and new propgrams, and the remaining 20% on providing endowment funds for long-term sustainability. Bcfc will provide good food for families struggling to afford groceries while addressing the root causes of hunger to make food a priority in sickness and in health. 1. Growing food security volunteer for veggies (v4v): participants trade hours of labor on bloom community farm and in the hope garden for shares of fresh produce. In the summer of 2019, we provided four opportunities per week and had 171 individuals participate in the program. The v4v program was put on hold through june 2020 due to covid. Mobile markets: bloom community farm and the hope garden supply steeply discounted food for our food truck, bringing fresh vegetables to low-income seniors and food insecure neighborhoods. During the 2019 summer months, we ran two mobile markets in hailey, one in carey and participated in local events, serving 52 local families or 125 individuals in total. Mobile markets were put on hold for the 2020 season due to the pandemic. Bloom youth project (byp): food insecure teens hired as interns manage food production at bloom community farm and provide food to low income neighborhoods through our discounted mobile markets. During the reporting period, 10 interns aged 14-16 years graduated from this 7-month program in the fall of 2019. The byp program was put on hold for the 2020 season due to the pandemic. Bloom truck: bloom truck is a mobile lunch and library in partnership with the community library that provides free food, fun, and reading for children in isolated pockets of blaine county. We served over 5,500 healthy lunches to 256 children from carey to ketchum. We also collaborated with 17 groups who provided free enrichment activities to the kids. The pandemic brought challenges to this program as we juggled safety concerns with a decline in participation from some families who were afraid of exposure to covid. We started the program early to offset the loss of school lunches when our school district moved to online schooling. We also added additional sites to expand program coverage. Food production: our harvest ends up on the plates of our food insecure neighbors through the programs described above or in our food pantry and children's food programs. Over 7,200 pounds of produce were grown in our farm and garden during the reporting period. We were able to engage some volunteers with social distancing measures in place, but the majority of programming was limited due to the pandemic.”

“2. Children's food programs snack pack program: our backpack program, which we call snack packs, effectively provides essential nutrition over the weekends and after school for school age children. We provided nearly 5,000 snack packs during the school year to keep kids fed and ready to learn. Due to covid, we extended this program beyond the school year, knowing families were facing exceptional pressure to keep their kids nourished despite having their own livelihoods impacted. Summer food program (sfp): the sfp provides food, fun, and reading for local children whose families can't afford to send their kids to summer camp. In the reporting period, the summer food program served over 5,500 meals to 256 children. Daily bites: through daily bites, we provide supplemental nutritious food pantries in schools, after school programs, and summer camps. During the reporting period, we provided supplemental nutrition to 1,700 children to keep them fed, active and engaged at school. Infant formula initiative: providing essential nutrition for babies during the first year of their life is key to the building blocks of childhood. Through the generosity of our community, we were able to ensure 100% of the mothers who reached out to us had access to the nutrition their babies need.”

“3. Healthy food pantry our healthy food pantry consists of a comprehensive food recovery, warehousing, distribution and support system to efficiently provide access to nutritious, supplementary foods and care for families in crisis. The covid-19 pandemic hit our area in march of the reporting period, leading to a complete shutdown and stay at home orders which brought historic numbers of families to our doors. The hunger coalition served an all-time record number of people at the food pantry through the reporting period. We provided 11,482 grocery carts to 1,261 deserving families during the reporting period, more than double the previous period. Thanks to our food recovery efforts and the farmers to families program through the usda, over 130,000 pounds of food were donated to our food pantry. Altogether, we distributed nearly half a million pounds of fresh and non-perishable foods through the food pantry in the reporting period. The pandemic forced us to change our entire distribution process and ended our warehouse volunteer program. The families who came to us continued to receive the vital nutrition they needed thanks to the hard work and dedication of our core staff and a crew of contract workers that were brought in to handle the record volume of families in need.”

“Cooking and nutrition education: the people who access our food support services are especially vulnerable when it comes to health and wellness. The stress from scarcity inevitably clouds self-care and makes it impossible to afford and maintain a healthy lifestyle. We engaged 234 youth and adults in comprehensive nutrition education that will improve long-term health through healthy, affordable eating through cooking matters classes, nutrition lessons with student groups at bloom community farm, and bloom youth project workshops.”

“PLEDGE DISCOUNT 83,877”