Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties

“The process the organization uses to review 990: the cfo or interim cfo reviews the draft form 990 and addresses any follow up questions with the auditors. Then the form 990 is submitted to the board for their input. Any identified issues are resolved and the form 990 is finalized.”

“Monitoring and enforcing compliance with the conflict of interest policy: conflict of interest statements are completed and signed by employees and board members. Employee statements are reviewed by hr and corporate counsel to identify any potential conflicts requiring further review by the ceo. Board member statements are reviewed and any potential conflicts are communicated to the ceo. Any board member statements requiring further consideration are communicated to the board for final decision.”

“In order to review and approve the recommended salary increases for members of the leadership team and the ceo, the executive compensation committee of the board of directors reviewed compiled market data provided by various survey sources for each position that outlined comparable positions in non profit organizations within the local and broader national area. In addition, the committee reviewed the compensation of each individual based on market data, input on performance and achievements, and considered the prior year adjustments. Specific to the ceo, the committee reviewed local market data and specific peer data on ceo positions in large urban centers that actively participated with feeding america. Based on the review and consideration of market data and performance information for each leadership position, the committee fully supported all base salary and bonus recommendations, and signed appropriate documentation to effectuate compensation change. This is an annual process. The process was last completed in september 2020.”

“The governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements are posted on the organizations website and also available upon request.”

“Second harvest of silicon valley (also known as "second harvest"), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization established in 1974 and incorporated in 1979, rose to meet unprecedented challenges during its 2019-2020 fiscal year. Before covid-19, second harvest was responding to a level of food insecurity in silicon valley that indicated there was already a crisis, providing groceries to more than 250,000 clients every month on average. After the pandemic hit, that number doubled to an average of more than 500,000 people each month. The economic crisis created by the pandemic pushed many families deeper into poverty and caused others to seek food assistance for the very first time. Within weeks of shelter-in-place, the need for food assistance skyrocketed and second harvest changed its distribution protocols to safely serve the community. Prior to covid-19, second harvest utilized farmers market-style distributions that provided client choice. In order to protect clients, volunteers and staff, second harvest began pre-boxing food in its warehouses - a much more labor-intensive process - and implemented low-touch, drive-thru distributions where volunteers placed food directly into clients' trunks without person-to-person contact. Pre-pandemic there were only three drive-thru distributions in santa clara and san mateo counties; by the end of the fiscal year there were 129. Second harvest also expanded its home delivery program to serve vulnerable, homebound residents in santa clara and san mateo counties. Working with partners like catholic charities, team rubicon, cathedral of faith and many others, second harvest has been making twice monthly deliveries of pre boxed groceries to an average of more than 5,500 households of homebound seniors and high-risk individuals. The challenges of this year have impacted almost every aspect of second harvest's operations. Second harvest doubled the amount of food it sourced, opened a new, temporary warehouse location, and scaled its transportation fleet to 31 trucks to meet the rising need for food. As a result of these changes, second harvest distributed 91.6 million pounds of food in its service area this fiscal year - a 32% increase over the previous fiscal year. And despite supply chain challenges, produce represented more than 46% of total food distributed, as second harvest remains committed to providing clients with a nutritious mix of foods. Volunteers and donors are key to second harvest's ability to meet the need for food in our community. Second harvest's expansive base of more than 68,500 donors made nearly 142,500 gifts totaling $93.2 million this fiscal year, the surplus of which will be used in the next fiscal year to cover the increased level of need within the community. As part of its response, second harvest was also able to leverage 255,000 volunteer hours - the equivalent of adding nearly 123 full-time employees to its workforce. Since the shelter-in-place order, second harvest staff and volunteers have been on the frontline every day making sure that anyone who needs nutritious food can get it. With the covid-19 pandemic and resulting financial crisis still impacting the global economy, second harvest does not anticipate a reduction in need anytime soon - the people who are most vulnerable have been hit hardest and will take the longest to recover. A key priority for second harvest in the coming year will be finding more permanent facilities solutions to ensure it has the capacity and resilience needed to serve the community now and for the long term.”

“This process has not changed from the prior year.”