•
Do they have relationships with any other organizations in the community to help people with needs other than food?
•
What successes and advice can they share with you?
You should then carefully consider and answer two questions:
“Are the existing programs in my neighborhood currently meeting the community’s emergency food needs?” “If the existing programs in my neighborhood are NOT currently meeting the community’s emergency food needs, would it be most effective for me to devote my energies to improving the existing programs rather than starting a new one from scratch?”
•
Help the agency obtain more food, money, and volunteers.
•
Assist the agency in helping their clients obtain the government benefits (Food Stamps, WIC, Earned Income Tax Credit, etc.) to which they are legally entitled.
•
Help the agency help its customers move “beyond the soup kitchen” to increased food and economic security by starting community gardens, job training programs, nutrition education classes, assets development projects, access to low cost fresh produce, etc.
•
Start a different kind of program that members of your community have identified as a need: a clothing closet, an English as a Second Language (ESL) course, etc.
Assessing Your Resources For Starting An Emergency Food Program
If the answer to either of the above questions is “YES,” you probably should NOT be starting a new EFP. Instead, you should collaborate with existing agencies in your neighborhood.
Before starting a new program, it is vital to answer honestly all of the following questions:
Collaborating with Other Neighborhood Agencies
•
Will the program manager and clients/ customers have access to a clean, safe, accessible physical facility which can be used on a regular basis at either no cost or a very small cost?
•
Will both the leadership and regular members of your religious group or other sponsoring group give your program consistent, long-term support, even if the “going gets tough” and there are complaints about drains on time and resources?
•
Even without help from any other entity, will you immediately have enough good food, or money to buy food, to provide a steady supply to the hungry people in your neighborhood? It is important
Starting your own, brand-new program is always difficult — and often not even the best course of action for the hungry people you want to serve. A great alternative is forming a partnership with an existing EFP to expand the number of people being served and the quality of service offered. Examples of such partnerships include: •
Help an agency receive more food and money from an additional community group in exchange for expanding services to that group.
•
Help the agency advertise its services to other community members in need.
Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry Best Practices Guide
Section 2
13