University District Service League

“Except for the power to amend the articles of incorporation and bylaws, the executive committee has all the powers and authority of the directors in the intervals between meetings and is subject to the direction and control of the directors. The executive committee will operate as the central coordinating and planning committee for the food bank and will be responsible for making recommendations to the directors related to the bylaws and in other areas, as appropriate. For purposes of executive committee decision making, a quorum shall be three. The executive committee shall consult with the executive director, as appropriate. The executive committee shall be responsible for corporate development activities.”

“The 990 is reviewed by the executive director, the accountant, and the finance committee. It will also be made available to the board. A draft is reviewed before the return is filed. The ed, accountant and finance committee perform a detailed review.”

“Employees, officers, and board members are obligated to willfully disclose any known or potential conflicts of interest. These conflicts are considered by the directors during one of the scheduled board meetings or on an emergency basis via a special meeting or phone call. If a conflict exists, the conflict is identified to all other staff, officers, and directors and the individual in question is recused from acting on matters related to the conflict. The conflict is described in meeting minutes.”

“Executive director compensation is reviewed and determined by the board of directors annually. It is proposed by the executive committee using staff feedback, 3rd party salary surveys, and cost of living adjustments. The board of directors reviews the proposed compensation level and approves/rejects it. This process last took place in 2022. The organization has no other officers who receive compensation or any key employees.”

“The organization's documents are available upon request in the organization's office.”

“University district service league, doing business as university district food bank (the food bank) is a nonprofit corporation organized to prevent hunger across northeast seattle neighborhoods and to help move individuals and families of low-income toward increased levels of food security, economic stability, and self-sufficiency. The food bank's programming is primarily focused on improved food access for our neighbors. While the on-going covid pandemic has meant sustained changes and challenges to the food bank's weekly operations, our core programming has been maintained and operational practices are returning to more normal conditions. Public health considerations still guide and shape our work although they are now balanced with choice and access when planning our services. We do however maintain longer distribution hours and expanded staffing levels to reduce some operational pressures. Our primary program, a walk-in food pantry in seattle's university district neighborhood, provides a grocery store shopping experience for our 1,200+ weekly customer families. Customers shop through our market to select the produce, dairy, meat, and other pantry staples they need to prepare their own healthy, culturally familiar meals. Hygiene items and baby supplies supplement customer visits. Ready to eat items are available for our kitchenless customers when they visit. Not surprisingly, the food bank's home delivery program grew significantly during covid and while participation has shrunk modestly, we still support more than 350 households with deliveries each week, more than our pre-pandemic levels. Volunteers are key to our home delivery success. Volunteers help us pack customized grocery bags for each of our home delivery customers based on their expressed needs and preferences. Volunteers also deliver the majority of our groceries. An on-going partnership with pedaling relief project brings us added delivery capacity to reach one off customers as well as those receiving temporary services. We also continue to support deliveries through our united way and doordash collaboration to about 150 families every saturday. Our two weekly satellite pantries continue to support their specific communities, important since these communities have more limited access to on-going food supports. Our pantries at north seattle college and magnuson park each serve 100-150 households per week and remain focused on expanding healthy, culturally familiar food choices. With more on-campus learning planned for 2023, we anticipate that our pantry at north seattle college will continue to grow in participation and reach our pre-pandemic service levels of 250 weekly customers by school year end in june. Packs for kids, our weekly program to bring backpacks of food to students in nearby public schools, has resumed to pre-covid levels now that in-person learning has returned for seattle public schools. We have new distribution partners this year and remain a resource that reaches more than 700 students each week. This response ensures that students continue to have access to healthy and easy to prepare meals and snacks throughout the weekend and return to school ready to learn on monday morning. The food bank continues to operate rooftop roots, our rooftop garden. Through a mix of staff and volunteers, the food bank grows produce year-round in 2,000 square feet of raised bed gardens. The produce is distributed directly to the food bank's customers across the different programs, as appropriate. We also collaborate with the doorway project at uw to offer two 10-week garden internship programs for ten youth living in a nearby transitional housing. We will rebuild our raised beds in early 2023 to increase growing efficiencies and production. Finally, we work to connect food bank customers to other important community resources. Our community engagement team provides a mail service for more than 100 customers, helps customers enroll in snap and utility discount p”

“The organization's process for selecting an independent auditor and for overseeing the financial statement audit did not change during the year.”