Feature President & CEO Message: Jim Yorgason At Utah Food Bank, as the holiday hustle and bustle fades away and we’re left facing the stark cold of winter, two things are never far from our minds: how fortunate we are to live in a state where so many are so willing to lend their support to people in need, and how tremendously difficult it is to face hunger, especially during the holiday season. Families in crisis often face difficult choices between feeding their families and paying for utilities, car repairs, medical costs or even holiday gifts. But the tough choices don’t end there—many also have to manage coping strategies to stretch their food budget as far as it can go. Common strategies include buying the least expensive food available (regardless of nutrition), eating expired foods and watering down food or drinks to make them last longer. Fortunately, because of the dedicated support of so many people throughout the state, we’re able to provide food for Utahns facing these tough choices. From all of us at Utah Food Bank, thank you for helping us make this challenging time a bit more manageable for our neighbors in need.
Client Corner: Notes of Appreciation Here's a sample of some of the heartwarming Thank You notes we recently received from children who benefit from our programs. These are as much for us as they are for you!
Donation Match Alert! Thanks to a dedicated friend of Utah Food Bank, when you join our Meal Makers Monthly Giving Program, your first month's gift will be TRIPLED! That means if you commit a monthly donation of $25, your first gift becomes $75! Only for a limited time! Visit UtahFoodBank.org/GiveMoney to sign up!
Spotlights Program Pulse: Mobile School Pantry Mid-Year Update This has been the biggest year yet for our Mobile School Pantry program, which doubled in size to serve 67 schools per month this year. This expansion was made possible by Granite Education Foundation and Granite Credit Union, who funded our fourth Mobile School Pantry truck. When you consider that last school year we served over 234,000 individuals (130,000 of whom were children) from 33 distribution sites, we should be able to have an even greater impact this school year with 67 schools! Preliminary numbers are showing that between September and November of this school year, we had already reached over 98,000 individuals (55,000 children), so we are really looking forward to seeing our impact at the end of the school year!
Volunteer Spotlight: Wasatch Recovery Wasatch Recovery has been volunteering at Utah Food Bank since 2012. Their staff and clients consistently show up with high spirits and ready to serve the community. Wasatch Recovery’s leadership is outstanding—they are always on-hand to ensure that the group is truly engaged while they are with us, and everyone is extremely respectful of our staff and facilities. The group’s commitment to volunteering includes a monthly shift in our warehouse and two different food box delivery routes. They are always willing to help with extra food box deliveries or warehouse tasks whenever needed. During our five-year partnership, they have provided 1,360 volunteers who have spent 4,305 hours volunteering their time. Thank you to Wasatch Recovery for your commitment to Fighting Hunger Statewide!
Recent Events Utah Human Race: November 23 This year marked the 12th anniversary of our Utah Human Race, held annually on Thanksgiving morning. Unseasonably warm temperatures meant that more people than ever were willing to brave the not-so-cold morning to Run with an Attitude of Gratitude. We are incredibly appreciative of the 4,827 participants and their supporters for making this a part of their Thanksgiving tradition, especially all of those who showed their spirit by wearing costumes! Special thanks goes to Presenting Sponsor Cameron Construction, who joined us as a sponsor for the first time this year. We’d also like to thank Gold Sponsors Discover Card, University of Utah Health and Grandeur Peak Funds, as well as Bronze Sponsors C.R. England and Dell EMC.
Holiday Food & Fund Drive: October 15–January 15 It always seems that the holiday season passes in the blink of an eye, and that’s especially true here because our annual Holiday Food & Fund Drive keeps us incredibly busy. Now that we’ve had a chance to take a moment to reflect on how blessed we are during the season of giving, we can safely say our supporters are as committed to fighting hunger as we are! Whether you gave food, time or money, attended an event that benefited us or gave back through other means, your generosity has improved the lives of the 392,000 Utahns who struggle with hunger. We’d like to also extend a special thanks to our Holiday Food & Fund Drive sponsors whose support was crucial to helping spread the word about the issue of hunger in our state!
Holiday Food & Fund Drive Sponsors
Save the Date Visit UtahFoodBank.org/Events for complete details!
Scouting For Food: March 17 This March will mark the 32nd anniversary of this statewide food drive, which is powered by nearly 55,000 Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and their leaders across the state. This effort comes at a critical time, as holiday donations become depleted heading into the spring months. During the week leading up to the food drive, watch for door hangers as a reminder of what types of food to donate. Residents across the state are encouraged to fill any bag or box with nutritious food items and place it outside their front doors no later than 9:00 a.m. on the day of the food drive. Filled bags will be delivered to us and to our statewide network of partner agencies—and ultimately to struggling Utahns in every corner of our state.
Night at the Warehouse Gala: April 28 This year’s 9th Annual Night at the Warehouse gala may seem like it’s a long way off, but we are already in the process of securing items for our live and silent auctions, as well as gift certificates to local restaurants that we sell at face value. This year’s theme is focused on the great outdoors and the fact that “Only YOU Can Prevent Hunger,” so we are looking forward to a great evening of fighting hunger and celebrating Utah’s natural beauty at the same time! The event will be held once again at our warehouse and feature an Iron Chef-style competition, banquet dinner and auctions. Ticket sales aren’t open quite yet, but pricing will be $150 per person or $1,500 for a table of 10. We are also looking for corporate sponsors to help offset the costs of the event, so if your business is interested, or if you have anything you’d like to donate, please contact KellyO@UtahFoodBank.org. Keep watching our website for further information!
Our mission of Fighting Hunger Statewide is only possible because of the devoted time, talent, energy and resources that the community provides.
Without you, we could not help those who need it most. Here's how you can help: Give Food. Everyone in Utah needs
to eat. When you donate food, you help make sure that everyone can. Donate at a variety of convenient drop-off locations, visit your local food pantry to drop off items or use Utah Food Bank’s Virtual Food Drive to save a trip to the store.
Give Time. It’s been said that time is
our most valuable commodity. At Utah Food Bank, we’ll help you put it to good use. Last year, Utah Food Bank utilized over 83,000 volunteer hours—the equivalent of 40 full-time employees!
Give Money. A $1 donation is actually
$7.48 worth of goods and services in our hands. This is possible through generous food donations and tremendous community support. Utah Food Bank distributes resources statewide, and all contributions are tax-deductible.
Food Bank Facts Servings Per Year: 32.7 million meals Servings Weight: 39.2 million pounds Avg. Cost Per Meal in Utah
Food Collection Sources
$2.79 % of Total
Grocery Rescue
38%
National Commercial Donations
21%
Government Commodities
18%
Local Commercial Donations
15%
Food Drives
5%
Purchased
3%
Funding Sources Community
38%
Grants/Foundations
23%
Corporate/Sponsorships
19%
Government Contracts
18%
United Way
2%
General Information Counties Served
29
Partner Agencies
149
Volunteer Hours Served Miles Traveled
83,418 488,538
UFB Values: Dignity, Hope, Community, Compassion, Integrity, Transparency, Respect, Vision, Stewardship, Partnership, Open Communication, Teamwork, Creativity
NonProfit Organization U.S. Postage Paid S.L.C., Utah Permit #1857
UtahFoodBank.org • Facebook.com/UtahFoodBank • @UtahFoodBank
INGREDIENTS: • Scouting For Food • Night at the Warehouse • Stamp Out Hunger • Summer Business Food & Fund Drive • Driving Out Hunger • H.A.M. It Up Against Hunger Race • Hunger Action Month • Utah Human Race • Holiday Food & Fund Drive
3150 S. 900 W. Salt Lake City, UT 84119 801-978-2452