Jewish Federation_Mitzvah Food Program Impact Report FY21

Fiscal Year 2021 Impact Report

Mitzvah Food Program

Brightness During Times of Need In the midst of the pandemic and the economic fallout damaging American families every day, the Jewish community and our partner agencies experienced increased demand across the board. The Mitzvah Food Program and other agencies worked to address demands related to food insecurity including increased client demand, food supply shortages, and infrastructure and staff needs due to the inability to rely on volunteer groups for work support.

Thanks to your generosity and support over the years, the Mitzvah Food Program was able to provide for 1,117 new clients in Fiscal Year 2021 (September 1, 2020 - August 31, 2021).

Your partnership has been essential to our ongoing efforts to fight food insecurity, as the effects of the pandemic continue to impact our community. Thank you for helping bring dignity and hope to those who need it most, especially during these difficult times.

Mitzvah Food Program Results

BY THE NUMBERS The Mitzvah Food Program had another impactful year leveraging over a million dollars worth of food for community members and ensuring food security across Greater Philadelphia. Pantries continued to operate in a hybrid COVID19 manner with some locations offering walk up and some more traditional services. MFP continued to benefit from CARES Act and other federal and state feeding programs along with private and corporate in-kind donations.

Of the 6,530 clients served, 46% were from Jewish households, and: • 19% were children • 39% were adults • 42% were older adults

Grand Total................................... 1,060,742 Mitzvah Food Package ���������������������831,134 Fresh Fruit/Vegetables ��������������������140,053 Fresh Protein/Dairy ��������������������������� 57,953 CSFP Boxes ������������������������������������������22,110 Fresh Grain �������������������������������������������5,936 Emergency Food Package.......................802 Other...................................................... 2,754

Pounds of Distributed Food at All Pantires FY21

In FY21, the Mitzvah Food Program’s five pantry locations provided much needed support within our community during a time of immense need: 2,771 households or 6,530 clients served 1,060,742 pounds of food, including 57,953 pounds of protein and 140,053 pounds of fresh produce 12 meals per month per household were distributed to clients Of the 85% of clients who responded to a client satisfaction survey, 86% indicated they were satisfied or highly satisfied with the food packages they received.

Close to 1,600 households served also receive SNAP benefits to supplement food needs.

Additional Resources High Holiday Gift Card Food Drive and Thanksgiving Meals More than 300 households received gift cards from all pantry locations thanks to generous donations collected during the High Holiday Gift Card Drive by 21 synagogues, day schools and agencies. In total, over $13,000 of gift cards were distributed during Thanksgiving, helping members of the community enjoy delicious and healthy Thanksgiving meals with their families.

The Northeast Pantry at KleinLife in partnership with Old York Road Temple Beth Am gave out 90+ packages – including turkeys – to food insecure families.

Capital Improvements Recent upgrades at the Northeast pantry at Kleinlife include the repaving of the walkway to create a safer path for clients and better access for moving palettes into the pantry. An upgraded refrigerator allows us to accept additional necessary products from Philabundance, such as eggs. We are currently working to add barcodes to all ID cards to automate the client registration process.

Recent renovations at Old York Road pantry include a private office for the care manager to meet with clients, new shelving and refrigeration space for food storage, and a new, functioning bathrooms. Technology (computer, tablets, and printers) is now available in preparation to use SmartChoice ordering platform.

Looking Ahead Volunteer Support

Nationwide Anti-Poverty Research

The volunteer pool is slowly returning to its normal pool of retirees as the area is going back into work and people are vaccinated. PPE is available and mandatory for all who work/ volunteer/utilize the pantries. Physical distancing recommendations are followed at all sites, masks are worn at all times when within less than six feet of someone not in their ‘family unit’.

Our Mitzvah Food Program will be part of The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) initiative to benchmark anti-poverty programs related to food security in Jewish communities across North America. JFNA has selected the Social Impact Genome to collect and analyze data from 10 programs funded or operated by various Federations. Each program will receive a snapshot of the benefits and weaknesses relative to the comparative programs. After the initial analysis is complete, participating Federations will work together to develop desired outcomes and results for similar programs, and share best practices within the North American network of Federations.

Expanding our Reach The Jewish Federation is planning a marketing campaign to attract new Jewish clients with a focus on Gen X and Gen Y members of the community, single parent families, and Jews of color. Through a series of Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn advertising, we intend to reach individuals with zip codes in the Northeast and other areas with high Orthodox communities. To counter the typical barriers for engagement at pantries, messaging is focused on highlighting the retail value of food received (i.e. over $50/person), the access to Kosher food options, and assuring the privacy and convenience offered.

NIH Study on Promoting Healthier Food Options Continues The NIH study was initially intended to follow 500 MFP clients over the course of a year to understand how their health changed through strategic interventions to encourage healthy food decisions.

Pre-pandemic, the program had 100 clients enrolled. As can be expected, the pandemic altered client engagement and the study was changed to a three month assessment of their health and their food choices through the SmartChoice ordering system. The researchers plan to finish the data collection phase by the end of 2022.

DoorDash We are considering working with Project DoorDash. They offer non-profits their delivery services, delivering up to 10 households within a 10-mile radius from pick up location at no cost to us through the end of 2022 and they are working on ways to increase this free service to nonprofits into 2023. Requests can be put in up to a day ahead of time to within an hour of needing it delivered. This would help two-fold – eliminate the MFP delivery waitlist altogether and be able to deliver routes that lose a volunteer drive at the last minute.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia mobilizes financial and volunteer resources to address the communities’ most critical priorities locally, in Israel and around the world.

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