Annual Report

FARMVILLE AREA COMMUNITY EMERGENCY SERVICES

ANNUAL REPORT 2008

I. OVERVIEW

I would like to thank Dave Culler and Ellery Sedgwick for providing data for this report.

2008 was a year of retrenchment at FACES.  Client numbers continued to grow as the economic crisis tightened. Our average monthly distribution was up by nearly 7.5%.  Volunteers continued to be both abundant and hardworking, not only our regular church groups, but Longwood University, Hampden-Sydney College, Fuqua School and Prince Edward County High School students participated.

In reading this report, we must be aware that FACES is not the only source of food for our clients.  One week each month, there is a distribution of USDA food which is done at our facility, and usually equals or exceeds both in the amount of food and the number of clients any one week of FACES distribution. We can thereby infer that the hunger problem in Prince Edward County is from 20-25% greater than shown from FACES data alone.

II. DISTRIBUTIONS

During 2008 we distributed 27,255 bags of food.  When frozen meats and other goods are included, the average weight of bag is about 10 pounds, so this gives a total of 272,550 lbs (or more than 136 tons) of food given away.

The statistics presented in this section are for FACES distributions only, accounting for 3 or 4 weeks per month.  The fourth week in each month is a USDA distribution, which uses FACES facilities and reports to FACES, but is not part of our program since the food is donated by the US Department of Agriculture.

As stated, a total of 27,255 bags of food were distributed.  The average weekly distribution for 2008 was 681 bags, compared to 633 for 2007.  This represented a 7.5% increase, double the percent increase in 2007 over 2006, after an actual decline in the rate of increase between 2006 and 2007. Our projection had been that our new registration procedure, instituted in 2004, would stabilize average bag numbers at around 550, but as in each year following 2004, the trend continues upward; an average of 564 bags in 2005, 614 in 2006, 634 in 2007, and now a big jump to 681 bags in 2008.  We had 15 weeks in 2008 in which we distributed over 700 bags, and in four of those weeks, we were over 800 bags.  The increase in the number of bags being distributed is significant.

The average number of families served per week in 2008 was 469 (2007: 434), a 8.0% increase; 2007 showed only a 2.4% increase over 2006.  The  average weekly number of families was never below 400; in 2007 we went below 400 only in August; in 2006, we experienced 10 weeks with family numbers below 400.  For the months of October, November and December in 2008, the number of families was over 500, the first time in our history we have served so many for such an extended period of time. In 2008, the biggest week served 580 families, and in 2007, 506.  Thus we are seeing significant increases in the numbers of families served.

The above chart provides a 5-year comparison of monthly average bag distributions from 2004 to 2008.  Some relevant extracts from the chart:

• For 2008, we were over 600 bags average per week every month, for the first time since 2003 (before restricting registration).

• Three months in 2008 topped or equaled 750 bags average, an all-time record.

Weekly bags, at minimum, contained 3 canned items, 2 dry items, cereal, a “staple” such as macaroni and cheese, and frozen meat as available (meat appears in the bags almost all Saturdays), This year, minimum bags were given out on a few Saturdays because of shortages from the Central Virginia Food Bank.  But most of the weeks of the shortage, we made up for it by tapping our reserve and buying food at retail (at quantity rates).

For many clients arriving before 10:00 AM, bread, cakes and pies, and fresh produce were available as extras, though these often ran out well before closing.  At our Thanksgiving and Christmas week distributions, we provided each family with a ham.  With our walk-in cooler we are able to accept produce and perishables, such as milk, margarine and eggs, from the Central Virginia Food Bank and local sources.  Because the Food Bank cannot distribute these to agencies without facilities to keep them, we get these items very cheaply, and often for nothing.  This has been a great help to our clients, who appreciate these items of fresh food, and to our finances under the impact once again of rapidly increasing demand.

We have established a new, and we hope more understanding relationship with the CVFB.  A delegation from the board visited the CVFB offices and warehouse in Richmond, explained the details of our operation, and also gained a good deal of insight into their way of working.  We are seeing improvements in the relationship, especially in the efficiency of deliveries to us from CVFB.  We had hoped to receive a visit from them in return, but for a number of reasons, it didn’t happen.

III. FINANCES

See the treasurer’s report for details (attached at the end of this report).  Income was up, to $68,871, as opposed to $61,162.00 (+12.6%) in 2007.  This increase includes a grant of $10,000 from the Payne Foundation.

Gifts from churches increased 1.5% in 2007, from  $12,888 to $13089, and government revenue showed a similar slight increase.

However, giving by individuals was up substantially, increasing by nearly 30% to $28,000 from $21,642.

Gifts and grants from organizations increased only by about $1,000, from $16,881 in 2007 to $17,971 in 2008  Organization giving normally fluctuates a great deal from year to year depending on grants and one-time gifts.  Last year we received $8,000 from the Payne Foundation, this year, $10,000.  However this increase in the Payne grant did not make up entirely for the absence of other gifts and grants from organizations. 

Our expenditures for food amounted to $47,054, almost the same amount as in 2007, despite the significant increase in bags given out.  It is likely that this seemingly paradoxical result stems from a few months this year that we had great difficulty obtaining food, gave out “light” bags, and thus spent less. We had budgeted for $52,000 for food in 2008.  Total expenses came to $52,584, resulting in a net positive balance of $16,030.  We had predicted a $5,000 deficit in 2008; the strikingly different result was due to our spending less on food than anticipated, and the Payne Grant for 2008, which we had not included in our projected revenue figures.  This money adds to our reserve and we now have a substantial reserve built up.

The treasurer has run a projected budget for 2008 which shows that we will need around $58,800 income to break even for the coming year.  This is about $10,000 less than we actually raised in 2007 (the amount of the 2007 Payne grant), so our outlook is good if we can continue to match our previous local fundraising.  However, we are embarking on an uncertain economic voyage for the foreseeable future, and our comfortable reserve could be drained in just a few years unless we continue vigorous fundraising efforts.

 Of concern also is the ability of CVFB, our major source of food, to continue to supply the needs of its client agencies throughout the region.  We have no control over this.  If CVFB fails to meet our requirements for food, we will have to cut deeply into our reserve funds to buy it at retail.

IV. DONATIONS

Donations of food continued to be important for our operation and demonstrated the broad base of support we enjoy.  Churches, Hunters for the Hungry, the Boy Scouts, and Fuqua School Youth for Christ continued to be major donors, and additional donations came in from other organizations, businesses, and private individuals.  Gifts of money from churches and individuals allowed us to multiply value in food many times over.  Grants of continuing support that were particularly important to us came from the Payne Foundation, Prince Edward County and the Town of Farmville. Volunteers and others continue to donate plastic bags and egg cartons.

V. FACILITIES

We have now been in our present Distribution Center for nearly five years (since March, 2004).  We have added, thanks to the Rotary Club, a walk-in cooler, and in 2005 purchased our own forklift, which has made unloading trucks a much easier task.  Our own truck has been put to good use this year for gleaning expeditions to apple orchards and elsewhere, and hauling donated food from remote locations.

VI. OPERATIONS

Operations continue to go smoothly under the capable leadership of Geoff Orth, with considerable assistance from a regular crew of volunteers who show up to unload trucks.  Board members Chuck Davison and Chuck Elston have continued to donate many hours of time to make sure that our facility stays clean and presentable.  Dave Culler, our registrar, is present nearly every Saturday morning to oversee client relations and to serve as a resource for volunteers.

VII. PROSPECTS

In 2008, we saw a spike in client registration toward the end of the year.  It appears that client numbers are growing once more, after hopes that they would stabilize because of our registration restrictions, implemented in 2004.  Registration and distribution slowed for few years but are now showing signs of increasing again, and rapidly.  Despite extended discussion of the subject, we have not found any way to again restrict our numbers, nor do we necessarily wish to in the coming hard times.  As more local residents lose work or have their hours cut back, we can anticipate greater demand.  But we have demonstrated that we can raise more than $50,000 per year from a community base of around 12,000 population, remarkable for any charity, and if this can continue, together with our solid reserves, we will be able to keep providing for our region’s hungry families.  Our biggest questions now will center around our ability to do this in the midst of the deepest recession since the 1980s.

VIII. APPRECIATIONS

The churches which man the weekly distributions (Worsham Baptist, Johns Memorial, College Church and Heritage Baptist) continue to be the mainstay of the operation.  As already mentioned, students from the two colleges and high schools supplement the forces available from the churches on most Saturday mornings.

The FACES Board is a working board, as its members know.  During 2008, as it has been for many years, several board members did outstanding jobs and deserve to be singled out. The same names keep recurring.  Dave and Cecelia Culler, Geoff Orth, Marilyn Osborn, Ellery Sedgwick, Virginia Kinman, Chuck Davison and Chuck Elston are long-serving board members who have shouldered most of the work of FACES for years. Geoff, as manager of operations, is perhaps the hardest-working board member we have. Again Cecelia single-handedly obtained the Payne Foundation without which we would have struggled this year.  Dave, aided by Virginia, is present without fail every Saturday to make sure there are no glitches in registration. Chuck Davison and Chuck Elston are champs in “sweat equity” and are here almost every Friday and Saturday, as well as other days during the week as needed. Ellery has not only kept the books in an exemplary manner, but has initiated a client services program that helps clients with their income taxes, food stamps enrollment and in general to negotiate the state and federal bureaucracies. The Board of Supervisors of Prince Edward County have provided generous support for many years, and without the in-kind donations of the Town of Farmville Council, which includes the use and maintenance of our building, FACES could not exist.

I usually provide some personal reflections to end the report.  The job of being president of the board of FACES is perhaps the easiest job on the board.  It simply consists of being the “face” of FACES.  The really hard work is done by others, unloading trucks, packing bags, working the computers, keeping the books, soliciting grants, and distributing food.  Not just our board members, but many, many people all through the community make sure that the work of FACES gets done.  Farmville and Prince Edward County owe all of them a great deal of thanks, as do I.

Submitted by FACES President Bill Shear, January 2009