The Foodbank recently set up the first ‘Community Impact’ Department in any food bank across America.
Our Community Impact Department draws together elements of our existing Agency and Program department approaches to create a single focused set of goals that are all around ‘impact.’ We have evolved from just supplying our nonprofit partners with food for their programs and running our own programs to fill gaps in key unserved nutritional and educational needs.
Our new Impact Groups, including staff, board, volunteers, donors, community members and partners, will look at the actual need in different communities and see what mixture of existing and new partners can help us meet these key needs. And we are using a new evaluation tool called RE-AIM, used in public health circles to measure the effect of an intervention in the community. Viewing food banks now as public health organizations, working to keep people healthy and nutritionally independent, this is the perfect measurement tool to use.
The impact of Foodbank and our partners is significant. In 2013, 144,000 unduplicated individuals were provided with nourishment and education through our award-winning programs and our network of over 330 social service programs and agencies, churches and community groups from Carpinteria to Santa Maria.
- Our Nonprofit Partners (searchable list coming soon)
- Agency Distribution Report
Our Community Impact is also extended through our work with key Health Partners throughout the county, including Sansum Diabetes, Marion Medical, and a pilot program with the American Heart Association.