emergency food distribution

Emergency Food Distribution is the core Food Bank program. The Food Bank for Westchester is the backbone of the county emergency food distribution network providing between 95% to 100% of the food distributed by grass roots anti – hunger programs such as soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, childcare, senior and residential programs.  In the 2005 –2006 fiscal year the Food Bank distributed 4.2 million pounds of food through 181 anti hunger programs helping to feed some or all of the 200,000 Westchester residents who are hungry or at risk of hunger. The Food Bank delivers 90% of the food program orders; the remaining 10% is picked up by individual programs at the Food Bank warehouse.

The following programs are under the Emergency Food Distribution umbrella:

Food Distribution

The Food Bank for Westchester receives food for distribution through three streams:

Donated Food – about one third of all the food distributed by the Food Bank is donated food.  The Food for Westchester receives the majority of its donated food through America’s Second Harvest. A2H solicits food on behalf of their membership (Approximately 200 food banks in the country)  and then allocates it out to its membership based on a poverty population formula. Recently A2H changed the food allocation system to a bidding system, which is still being evaluated. The Food Bank for Westchester also solicits food in its service area, Westchester County. About 300,000 pounds annually comes from local sources such as food drives, the PPFP program and the very few distributors in the county.

The Food Bank must provide the transportation to bring the donated food from where ever it is located, to its warehouse. This means, if in county, pick up with a Food Bank truck and out of county and/or out of state arrange for a commercial carrier to bring in. The transportation cost is borne by the Food Bank.

The Food Bank for Westchester distributes the donated food at the Shared Maintenance Fee of .10 cents per pound.

USDA Food – The United States Department of Agriculture purchases surplus food and converts it into shelf stable products to be used by government institutions like prisons and school lunch programs. A small percentage of this food is designated for Food Pantry/Soup Kitchen use.   
In New York State the state portion of the USDA food for Food Pantries and Soup Kitchens is distributed through the New York State Office of General Services, which in turn allocates the entire allotment to the eight food banks in the state to distribute to qualified hunger relief programs in their service area.  The amount and variety of product available through this source varies from year to year.

Because the USDA foods also have administrative reimbursement attached to the pound allocation, the food banks in the state do not have to charge a shared maintenance fee.

Purchased Food – The Food Bank for Westchester purchases food with the donated dollar in truckload quantities to make sure that there is always sufficient food in the five food groups available for distribution. Because the Food Bank is significantly dependant on A2H for donated food and there is almost nothing in Westchester from which to raise additional donated food, purchasing is a necessity. The Food Bank shops for product all across the country, seeking to get the best product for the lowest price. The cost of the purchased food is passed on the member agencies. The price is always below current wholesale prices, allowing member agencies to significantly stretch their purchasing power.

Last fiscal year the Food Bank distributed a total of 4.2 million pounds of food.

Technical Assistance and Nutrition Education

The Food Bank for Westchester provides technical support and education services to member agencies and their clients.

Technical assistance to programs consists of food safety /nutrition education and organizational/ management skills. The Food Bank also conducts a physical site inspection of each member program to assure compliance with all federal, state and local regulations governing food safety, sanitation, distribution, record keeping etc.