ABOUT US

OUR ANNUAL REPORT

DEAR PARTNERS IN HUNGER-RELIEF

As we reflect on 2022, it was a year of challenges and uncertainties, but it was also a year to demonstrate our resiliency. No matter what issue arose, we were able to adapt and respond because of YOUR support. Thank you!

The story of resiliency isn’t just in us as an organization, it’s also found in the people we serve. People like Allan Wolf, who you’ll meet in this annual report. Allan is a 68-year-old veteran having spent 10 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. We met Allan as he waited in line during a mobile food pantry stop last year. Inflation and high food prices hit the over-the-road truck driver hard, and he was forced to cut back. He heard about our mobile food pantry and was incredibly relieved to get the food he needed to get by. Serving those who served our country is a honor and responsibility we don’t take lightly at the Great Plains Food Bank.

Allan wasn’t the only one hit hard by inflation. Last year, we served 138,439 individuals, the second-highest total in our history and more than any year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. While we saw our own food donations plummet by 21 percent, we were able to find innovative ways to serve our neighbors because of YOUR help.

We wouldn’t be where we are without you, and we look forward to celebrating a key organizational milestone with you in 2023. 2023 marks the 40th anniversary of the Great Plains Food Bank! For four decades we have, together, been serving our neighbors struggling with hunger throughout North Dakota and Clay County, Minn. We have evolved from a small organization serving just 189,000 pounds of food in our first year, to the state’s largest hunger-relief organization serving over 11 million pounds of food annually. It’s a transformation few could have predicted, yet here we stand, proud and resilient. We have accomplished so much throughout our 40 years, and we have no doubt our strongest years are ahead of us.

Also in this report, you’ll get a glimpse of the work that is ahead of us. We completed and recently released the results of our Hunger on the Plains 2023 study. The first study of our clients and partners since 2018, Hunger on the Plains will help us create a road map for our next 40 years as we continue on this path to End Hunger Together.

On behalf of the Great Plains Food Bank, we are grateful for your unwavering support to help us end hunger. As our most loyal partners in hunger-relief, please feel free to reach out with any thoughts and ideas via phone (701.232.6219), email (msobolik@greatplainsfoodbank.org) or in person.

In gratitude,

MELISSA SOBOLIK

Great Plain Food Bank
CEO

PAT GULBRANSON

Great Plains Food Bank
Chair, Board of Directors

2022: A BIG YEAR FOR HUNGER RELIEF

2022: FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT

PUBLIC SUPPORT & REVENUE FY2022 FY21
Private Contributions
$5,066,723
$6,717,730
Government Contracts and Grants
$626,393
$2,591,522
United Way and Private Grants
$934,337
$1,279,625
Program Revenue
$758,641
$489,454
Investments and Other Income
$(239,491)
$92,584
Paycheck Protection Program Contribution
$385,756
USDA Commodity Food
$5,389,005
$16,152,646
Donated Food
$15,908,255
$16,337,945
TOTAL PUBLIC SUPPORT AND REVENUE
$28,443,863
$44,047,262
EXPENSES FY22 FY21
Programs and Services
$28,559,104
$36,875,043
Fund Development
$979,950
$1,013,560
Management and General
$457,393
$444,945
TOTAL EXPENSES
$29,996,447
$38,333,548
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS FY22 FY21
Change in net assets
$(1,552,584)
$5,972,689
Net Assets at Beginning of Year
$14,982,368
$9,009,679
Net Assets at End of Year
$13,429,784
$14,982,368

SOURCES OF FUNDING

69% Private Contributions
13% United Way and Private Grants
10% Program Revenue
8% Government Contracts and Grants

EXPENSES*

2% Management and General Administration
3% Fund Development
95% Programs and Services

*Includes the value of donated food distributed of $23,743,945.

Great Plains Food Bank’s auditors have expressed an unmodified opinion on our financial statements for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022. Those financial statements, which are available on the Great Plains Food Bank’s website, include associated notes that are essential to understanding the information presented here.

THANK YOU

Every investment you make to support our mission is an investment in your neighbor. We are committed to thoughtfully stewarding your donations to provide hunger-relief and build food secure communities across North Dakota and Clay County, Minnesota.

OUR PROGRAMS

Throughout the year, the Great Plains Food Bank operated nine direct service programs across North Dakota and Clay County, Minn., to combat hunger for children, seniors and those living in rural communities. These programs were integral in our ability to provide more than 12.6 million meals to 121,440 individuals.

MOBILE FOOD PANTRY

Bringing trucks full of fresh food to locations throughout North Dakota and Clay County, Minn., our mobile food pantry held distributions at 72 different sites and locations in 2021 providing more than 1.13 million meals.

BACKPACK PROGRAM

Providing meals, milk, juice and snacks to children to help them make it through the weekend, our backpack program provided 139,027 backpacks to 5,096 kids in 138 communities.

YOUTH SUMMER MEALS PROGRAM

Providing boxed meals during the summer months when school lunches are not available, the youth summer meals program provided 34,157 meals to 1,069 children.

SCHOOL PANTRY PROGRAM

A total of 32 food pantries are now serving 72 different schools in 20 communities through the Great Plains Food Bank School Pantry Program. The program provided 196,638 meals last year.

SENIOR FOOD PACK PROGRAM

Helping low-income seniors throughout North Dakota, the senior food pack program helped 1,026 seniors in 35 communities in 2021.

PRIVACY POLICY

This privacy notice discloses the privacy practices for Great Plains Food Bank regarding websites located at www.greatplainsfoodbank.org and give.greatplainsfoodbank.org. Great Plains Food Bank reserves the right, at any time and without notice, to change this Privacy Policy simply by posting such changes on our site. Any such change will be effective immediately upon posting. Great Plains Food Bank (“us”, “we”, “our”). Website visitor, guest, and/or donor (“you”, “user”).

Information Collection

  • Personal Information You Choose to Provide In the process of general correspondence, making a gift, or participating in online surveys you may be asked to supply us with personal information, including your email address, postal address, home or work telephone number and other information. If you correspond with us through email, we may retain the content of your email messages, your email address, and our responses. 
  • Website Use Information Similar to most websites, our site may utilize “cookies” and web server logs to collect information about how our website is used. Information gathered may include the date and time of visits, pages viewed, time spent on our website, and the sites visited just before and just after ours. This information is collected on an aggregate basis; none of this information is associated with you as an individual.

How Do We Use Information 

  • That You Provide to Us? We use personal information for purposes of administering our not-for-profit business activities, providing service and support, and making available other information and services to our website visitors, guests, agency partners, advocates, contracted consultants, and approved vendors. We may use the information provided to notify you about important changes to our website, new services, or new information that supports your interest in hunger-relief. 
  • Collected From Cookies? We use cookies and web server logs to gather information about our website users’ browsing activities. This information assists us in designing and continually improving our web pages in the most user-friendly manner. We do not use these technologies to capture any personally identifying information.

Security

  • How Do We Protect Your Information?
    • We utilize encryption/security software to safeguard the confidentiality of personal information we collect from unauthorized access or disclosure and accidental loss, alteration or destruction. 
    • Our operations and business practices are periodically reviewed for compliance with organization policies and procedures governing the security, confidentiality and quality of our information. 
    • Our organization values ethical standards, policies and practices and is committed to the protection of user information. Our not-for-profit business practices limit employee access to confidential information, and limits the use and disclosure of such information to authorized persons, processes and transactions.
  • How Do We Secure Information Transmissions? All information transmitted through our website, giving pages, and forms are sent via secure, encrypted server. Other emails you send to us may not be secure; for that reason, we ask that you do not send confidential information such as Social Security, credit card, or account numbers to us through an unsecured email.
  • Do We Disclose Information to Outside Parties? We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information. We may provide aggregate information about our website visitors or website traffic patterns to our contracted affiliates or third parties; this information will not include personally identifying data, except as otherwise provided in this privacy policy. Personal information such as email and address may be shared with a contracted third party for the use of email dissemination and direct mail marketing; all third party vendors are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
  • Legally Compelled Disclosure of Information? We may disclose information when legally compelled to do so, in other words, when we, in good faith, believe that the law requires it or for the protection of our legal rights.

Permission to Use of Materials 

  • The right to download and store or output the materials on our website is granted for personal use only, and materials may not be reproduced in any edited form. Any other reproduction, transmission, performance, display or editing of these materials by any means mechanical or electronic without our express written permission is strictly prohibited. Users wishing to obtain permission to reprint or reproduce any materials appearing on this site may contact us directly.

Your Access to and Control of Information 

  • You may request access to all of your personally identifiable information that we collect online and maintain in our donor constituent database, DonorPerfect. 
  • You may request removal from any communication including but not limited to emails, direct mail pieces, text and phone calls.
  • Because we do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information; opting out of such practices is optional and not required.

Contact Great Plains Food Bank/Opt-out

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, need to opt-out of future communications, or wish to exercise any other privacy right you may have by law, please contact us in any of the ways shown below.

Great Plains Food Bank
attn. Development Associate
1720 3rd Ave N
Fargo, ND 58102

Phone: 701-476-9120

Email: info@greatplainsfoodbank.org

All opt-out requests will be honored, but please be patient with us as it may take up to twelve (12) weeks for opt-out changes to be fully implemented. We may also occasionally initiate contact with opt-out supporters in order to update their contact preferences, and we will promptly accommodate their updated preferences, if any.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

DONATION REFUND POLICY

We are grateful for your donation and support of our organization. If you have made an error in making your donation or change your mind about contributing to our organization please contact us. Refunds are returned using the original method of payment. If you made your donation by credit card, your refund will be credited to that same credit card.

AUTOMATED RECURRING DONATION CANCELLATION

Ongoing support is important to enabling projects to continue their work, so we encourage donors to continue to contribute to projects over time. But if you must cancel your recurring donation, please notify us.