Food For All (FFA) is a community based non-profit organization located in the largest city in the State of Connecticut. The mission is to provide healthy fresh food to community residents in need to ensure that no one is hungry. FFA was founded by a group of 10 community members who wanted to address the hunger issues in this city 40 years ago (1981). The organization began with a focus on childhood hunger. That was their focus for the first 15 years. In 1996 their focus shifted to family hunger and single adults.

Community Information

The city where FFA is headquartered has 200,000 residents. 25% of the families live at or below the poverty level and 40% of children live at or below the poverty level. Food insecurity is a leading issue for families in the community. For those that can afford to shop in the local grocery stores there are only 2 large grocery stores in the city both on the outskirts of town and it requires transportation to get to them or at least 2 bus trips from the downtown area. Housing insecurity and transportation needs are also large issues for the families and residents in the community as well.

Governance

A Board of Directors governs the organization. They have by-laws that are reviewed regularly but have not updated in more than 10 years.The Board term limits are three 2-year terms (total of 6 years). However, two of the original founding organization members remain on the board and have declined to leave in accordance with the by-laws. They state that their institutional memory is needed to keep things going. While there can be up to 20 board members there are currently only 6 board members (including the 2 founders). All of the board officer roles are filled and include board-President, vice president, treasurer, secretary. The board meets quarterly. They do not have a strategic plan and have never had one.

Staffing

FFA is run by Molly, a part-time Executive Director. Molly has worked at FFA for 37 years. She was originally a full-time employee with the organization. In 2018 Molly transitioned to a part-time employee to accommodate her need to care for her sick and aging husband. This transition was meant to be temporary and was Board approved for 9 months. However, despite requests to return to full-time to run the organization by the Board after her husband's death in June 2019, Molly repeatedly declined and stated that she will quit if she has to return to work full-time. The Board has given in with her demands for part-time work. As the ED, Molly's main role has been to is to raise funds for the organization, manage the finances, oversee operations, and steward community partnerships.

Additional staffing includes Amy, the part-time Administrative Assistant and Greg the part-time Volunteer Coordinator. Amy's primary role is to answer the telephone, respond to client inquiries, pay bills, and manage the office. Amy is Molly's sister-in-law and has been with the organization for 12 years. Greg is a recent college graduate with a degree in non-profit management. Greg has many good ideas for the organization and loves to apply strategies he has learned in school. Often, he brings his ideas to Molly and while she listens intently, she doesn't implement them or give them a try.

The heart of FFA are the volunteer food delivery drivers. These volunteers are managed by Greg and their primary role is the weekly delivery of food boxes to families around the city. Greg recruits volunteers from various places and most are newly retired individuals who wish to remain active in their community and give back. The volunteer drivers drive their own vehicles to deliver the groceries.

Finance

FFAs main source of funding is charitable donations that are used to pay the staff salaries, rent of office space and purchase small amounts of necessary food to supplement what is not donated. FFA is able to make payroll and pay its bills but only has 6 months cash on hand.

FFA obtains food from donation drives held monthly by various community organizations like the Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, local churches, neighborhood farms and community gardens, businesses and anyone who wishes to donate food to the charity.

Molly files the taxes annually and they have never had any IRS issues. There has never been an independent audit of their records.

What's happening today

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the need for food increased tremendously. FFA struggled to maintain its volunteer delivery staff and saw that team of 22 volunteer drivers dwindle to just eight. Monetary donations and food donations increased yet without staff to deliver the food they struggled. The three part-time staff stepped in to help deliver food and left the office unattended for hours each day. They were unable to get all the food delivered and fresh food donations began to spoil.

Now, at the end of 2023, Molly is exhausted and has given the Board notice that she will be retiring December 31,2023. They have asked her to stay on an additional 3 months and she has declined and is moving to Hawaii January 1, 2023. Amy is interested in the role of ED and recently shared with the Board by email that she is interested in the role of the Executive Director and that she should be selected because she is "next in line" for the role. Greg shows up to work and remains enthusiastic but is applying to graduate programs in public health as well as circulating is resume widely around town for a new job

1. What strategic issues that FFA are facing be addressed first?