2015 Good Cheer Annual Report

Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores Impact Report

Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores | Creating a Hunger-Free Community

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Dear friends and supporters, Thank you to all who make up Good Cheer and who give of themselves to support those in need. Your kindness, support, and work are the stepping stones to alleviating community-based hunger.

To those who gave food this year, you provided each family facing hardships over 700 pounds of food, while your dedication to nutrition amounted to over 150 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables for each family.

To those who volunteered with us this year, you gave a record 39,634 hours of service, which works out mathematically to 19 full-time employees and $826,368 (if paid at Northwest Harvest’s nonprofit rate of $20.85 an hour). To all of us at Good Cheer, it is much more than that. Many volunteers have been with us for years, decades even, and have taken opportunities to develop teams and drive departments that have charted Good Cheer’s success.

There is no price that can be placed on the value of our volunteers and their impacts. Thank you for your commitment and for showing your support by gifting us with your time and talents.

To those who stopped by and donated to Good Cheer’s Donation Center this year, you contributed to a new high of 16,973 donation drop-offs. Thank you for deciding 16,973 times to bring your cherished personal items, furniture, and other goods to Good Cheer. Your decisions gave someone the thrill of finding a new coat, dining table, or antique chair to bring home and make their own. Your giving and shopping raised money to support the Food Bank in feeding friends and neighbors who found themselves in need of help.

To those who contributed monetary funds, you put forth $376,082 to nourish those who may have had to choose between heating their homes and eating. Your contributions sustained others while providing the dignity of choice.

What a tremendous year, one in which I also needed a bit of help. I am deeply grateful for the staff, Board Members, and volunteers who took the helm and kept the Good Cheer ship steady as I recovered from brain surgery. I continue to be touched and inspired by the caring concern and support of the community Good Cheer is a part of.

Cheers,

Kathy McCabe Good Cheer Executive Director

Good Cheer Board of Directors Marilee Seligson, President Bob Olson, Vice President Rob Anderson, Treasurer Bob Green, Secretary Jerry Bacon Pam Bickel John Lawson Tom Nack 2

Kathleen McCabe—Executive Director Vincent Nattress Jay Ryan Kay Stanley Kathryn Stevens Bill Watts Laura Weeks Gene White

Good Cheer’s Board of Directors gave 591 hours of their time in 2015.

At the end of the year, Pam Bickel, Jay Ryan, and Gene White completed their terms. Thank you to all for your service and commitment. We are looking forward to the new year!

Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores | Creating a Hunger-Free Community

In 2015, Good Cheer Food Bank

served

5,437 people, including 1,526 children,

821 seniors, and 640 homeless individuals

894 families per month, on average

gave away 55,000 pounds of food per month, on average

130,000

and more than pounds of fresh produce

Good Cheer Thrift Stores provided over $16,200

in gift certificates to local partner organizations in support of those less fortunate in our community

Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores | Creating a Hunger-Free Community

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A new high in sales 2015 proved to be a challenging sales environment which was marked by falling prices and shifting consumer activity. In spite of this, retail sales increased 3.1% compared to 2014, as reported by the National Retail Federation. Good Cheer Thrift Stores more than doubled this: sales increased by 7.7%, which brought in a record-breaking $912,490 (up $65,132 from 2014). Moreover, Good Cheer’s decade-long year-over-year growth demonstrates marked resiliency within an ever-changing market. In 2005, Good Cheer Thrift Store revenues amounted to $370,311, and have increased at an average rate of 9.5% per year since then.

Of course, these successes would not be possible were it not for our generous friends who remain committed to giving back to the community by volunteering, donating quality goods, and by shopping at Good Cheer. We strive to match that commitment and are steadfast in offering good value for Thrift Store shoppers’ dollars.

Beyond numbers, changes made by Thrift Store staff and volunteers to better utilize available floor and wall space have brought in more light and created increasingly inviting spaces for browsing. The removal of an interior wall at Good Cheer’s flagship Thrift Store has allowed for more furniture items to be featured as well as the expansion of the book and giftware departments. Meanwhile, added shelving, display cases, and signage at Good Cheer Two have made it easier for shoppers to find what they are looking for. And with the Donation Center trucks’ twice-daily deliveries of new items to the Thrift Stores, staff and volunteers make sure no shelf is left behind.

Savings and choice Providing choice is one of Good Cheer’s top priorities. Among the choices available in the Food Bank are items purchased through the use of coupons; value-added products, like tomato sauce, guacamole, and pear-apple sauce that rescue blemished, but edible produce from being wasted; and frozen, pickled, blanched, and dried foods that preserve and take advantage of overabundance. As a result of these and many other frugal habits and practices, Good Cheer’s food purchases were more than $25,000 below budget this year.

Good Cheer’s volunteer-led Coupon Crew clips coupons to purchase items for the Food Bank that are not often donated or not donated in sufficient quantities, such as variety cereals, meal helpers, and canned goods. Along with maximizing Good Cheer’s food purchasing budget and ensuring that certain staples are on hand at all times, the Coupon Crew makes thousands of coupons available for people at Good Cheer’s Langley Thrift Store and hosts a weekly coupon class that teaches people how to locate the best deals and to double or triple the value of SNAP benefits.

Recognizing the impact of Good Cheer’s Coupon Crew, the Boeing Employees Community Fund and the Norcliffe Foundation awarded grants in 2015 for the purchase of a new Honda Odyssey van. Now logoed, the “Coupon Crew Van” makes trips on and off-island to score deals and stock the Food Bank with greater variety and quality.

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Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores | Creating a Hunger-Free Community

Fresh Food on the Table Fresh Food on the Table describes Good Cheer’s efforts to increase local produce on South Whidbey and to divert food from the waste-stream.

Good Cheer Garden and Bayview Garden Good Cheer-stewarded gardens produced over 9,000 pounds of food in 2015 with the help of over 900 volunteer hours, grants from Whidbey Island Garden Tour and Catholic Relief Services, and community donations.

Aside from a 10% harvest increase, 2015 marked the first year Good Cheer harvests occurred in all 12 months. Improved crop planning and succession planting led to greater seasonal distribution of produce, with longer summer harvests and over 400 pounds of late-fall and winter vegetables.

Partnerships, in-kind donations, and gleaning Good Cheer is lucky to count local farms, home growers, and organizations as partners in increasing the amount of local fresh food in our community. In 2015, the Food Bank recorded 485 donations from individuals and 50 donations from 15 local farms, while Good Cheer’s volunteer-led Gleeful Gleaners brought in thousands of pounds of local apples, pears, Asian pears, and plums from community tree-owners willing to share their bounty. All told, this year’s in-kind fresh food donations and gleaning efforts shared over 24,000 pounds of local produce with Food Bank clients and social service organizations, including Whidbey Island Nourishes (WIN), The HUB After School, Island Church Soup Kitchen, South Whidbey Senior Center, and South Whidbey Homeless Coalition.

Preserving and processing food During times of abundance, the Good Cheer Food Bank kitchen team dehydrates and preserves bulk amounts of plums, pears, apples, peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini, and kale into dried fruit, frozen fruit, soups, sauces, chutneys, pickles, purees, blanched greens, and frozen vegetables to provide Food Bank clients with nutritious options while preventing waste.

2015

Preserved nearly 3x dried fruit* nearly 3x frozen fruit* 2x pickle jars* 2x pumpkin puree* *compared to 2014

Processed 1,832 pounds of food

In 2015, Good Cheer processed nearly three times as much frozen and dried fruit, twice as many pickle jars, and more than twice as much cooked pumpkin puree compared to 2014. Thanks to volunteers and staff who combed through weekly grocery rescue boxes of blemished produce, overstock, and items nearing the end of shelf life, 1,832 pounds of valueadded products, such as salsa and bags of mixed cut fruit, were processed and put on Food Bank shelves for clients.

Looking forward to more local food The shared goal of increasing access to fresh and local produce has brought Good Cheer and South Whidbey School District (SWSD) together in partnership.

Late this year, the Boards of both organizations unanimously approved a one-acre farm that will grow food for the Food Bank and SWSD cafeterias in the coming year. A mutually beneficial sharing of resources, SWSD has agreed to allow Good Cheer to develop and manage the farm on school district property in exchange for fruits and vegetables.

Appropriately, the farm will be named The Big ACRE (Abundant Community Resources for Everyone).

Unique for a nonprofit cultivation space, The Big ACRE will focus on production. Eschewing the wide, grassy paths and picnic benches of the Good Cheer Garden will yield significant harvests of hardy greens and storage crops while freeing up space at the Garden for herbs, quick greens, seed stock, and flowers. Another distinction, The Big ACRE’s planting schedule will be centered around harvesting in the “off” season months between October and June to increase year-round availability of local produce in the Food Bank while coinciding with the school year to make it possible for more students to eat nutritious food when school is in session.

An exciting time to be looking ahead, Good Cheer is grateful to be in the company of those who value eating and growing locally. A new farm is underway thanks to community members dedicated to growing a local food system for all.

Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores | Creating a Hunger-Free Community

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Year in Review May Day Party Community members and friends of Good Cheer welcomed spring and the new season by making flower crowns, painting faces, and decorating and wrapping the May pole.

4th of July Maxwelton Parade Dressed in red, white, and blue, Good Cheer staff and volunteers celebrated Independence Day by handing out treats and garden -fresh snap peas to parade-goers along the Good Cheer-mobile.

Volunteer Appreciation BBQ Volunteers set a new record this year by donating a whopping 39,635 hours of their time! On July 17, Good Cheer expressed our heartfelt thanks for our dedicated volunteers and the enormous amount of work they do.

Also presented were two legacy awards, newly established in memory of stalwart volunteers and supporters, Louise Prewitt and Reva Albright.

Louise Prewitt was a longtime volunteer, Board member, and tireless supporter of Good Cheer, who often organized Board fundraisers. Jay Ryan, who has served as Board president, director, and secretary; co-led our Capital Campaign; and volunteers in the Food Bank to this day, took home the Louise Prewitt Award for his long-lasting impact on Good Cheer.

Known as Good Cheer’s “Shoe Lady”, Reva Albright created successful shoe and purse departments. Betty Kendall, who has been sorting and organizing the Langley Thrift Store’s book section since 1988 and contributed to nearly $500,000 in book sales, was awarded the Reva Albright Volunteer Award for her commitment to Good Cheer’s day-to-day success.

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Jay Ryan received the 2015 Louise Prewitt Award, pictured with Louise’s daughter, Christy, and husband, Dan .

Betty Kendall accepts the Reva Albright Volun‐ teer Award amongst members of Reva’s family.

Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores | Creating a Hunger-Free Community

Fall Harvest Potluck With perfect weather and a beautiful array of fresh food and flowers, a wonderful time was had by all who came to celebrate the coming of autumn.

Empty Bowl Soup Night Featuring delicious soups and handmade bowls, the October dinner brought together community members, local chefs, and Whidbey Art Escape in support of hunger.

Donations and Food Drives Good Cheer distributed 664,891 pounds of food in 2015.

Of that, 60% or 397,443 pounds were donated, including 190,116 pounds from our partner warehouse food distributors Northwest Harvest and Food Lifeline. We are grateful to all of the organizations, churches, schools, businesses, and community members who made charitable contributions, held food drives, and donated food, items, materials, and time to Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores this year.

The Gift of Giving Good Cheer giving tree ornaments, crafted and painted by volunteers at Whidbey Art Escape, were available for purchase at Bayview Cash Store and Island Athletic Club in order to provide gifts to children in South Whidbey who might not receive much during the giving season.

We love our community and the many original ways you think of to support your neighbors.

Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores | Creating a Hunger-Free Community

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DONATE + SHOP = FOOD Your donations and thrift store purchases feed hungry people while providing them with choice.

Together, we can work towards a hunger-free community.

Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores Good Cheer Food Bank (Bayview location) 2812 Grimm Road Langley, WA 98260

Langley Thrift Store 114 Anthes Ave, Langley, WA 98260

Store Hours:

Food Bank Hours:

9:30 AM—5:00 PM, 7 days a week

Mon: 9:30 AM—4:30 PM Tues: 12:00 PM—7:00 PM Wed-Fri: 9:30 AM—4:30 PM

Telephone: (360) 221-6455

Food donations are received Monday-Friday from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Good Cheer Two (Clinton Thrift Store)

Telephone: (360) 221-4868

11042 State Highway 525, #132 Clinton, WA 98236

Good Cheer Donation Center

Store Hours:

(Bayview location)

9:30 AM—5:00 PM, 7 days a week

2812 Grimm Road Langley, WA 98260

Telephone: (360) 341-2880

Item donations are received Monday-Saturday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Telephone: (360) 221-6494

Stay in touch!

Mailing Address PO Box 144 Langley, WA 98260

E-mail Websites Facebook Instagram 8

foodbank@whidbey.com www.goodcheer.org www.goodcheergarden.wordpress.com @goodcheerfoodbankandthriftstores @goodcheergarden @goodcheergarden

Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores | Creating a Hunger-Free Community