Friendship Donations Network (FDN) is an innovative and transformative program that models and teaches how to save nutritious food that will soon be wasted, and instead, redirects it to sustenance for people in need and keeps it from heading to the landfill. FDN’s donations of fresh, nutritious food includes exotic produce as well a wide assortment of produce as well as organic products. This provides options to people who otherwise could not afford such a varied and healthy diet. Many of FDN’s programs teach consumers how easy it is to cook foods, such as various squashes, that they may have previously not been exposed to. FDN strives to provide food that is a healthy alternative to cheap, processed food that is high in salt, sugar, fat and artificial ingredients that so many struggling people find themselves buying. While FDN is a food rescue and redistribution program that collects up to 600,000 lbs of mostly perishable food every year, it is also important to note that it is all about transforming how Americans communities deal with excess and day(s)-old food that is usable and nutritious.
Twenty-four programs including pantries, community hot meals, children’s programs, outreach to low wage work sites, families who live in trailer parks, low income homes and senior citizens are served. Participating programs and their 235 volunteers pick up and distribute donations of mostly perishable excess and day(s)-old food from Ithaca’s food outlets. Donors include supermarkets, whole sale food suppliers, Cornell University – Orchards, Dairy Store, Catering, farms and other sites, bakeries, area farms and CSA co-ops.
Mission:
To alleviate hunger and food insecurity through recovery and redistribution of nutritious food; to bridge the gap between excess food waste and hunger; to transform the wasteful nature of our society; to provide an innovative teaching and publicity model of how to transform how communities act with regard to good food that will be wasted; to act as a one-call center for donors 7 days a week; to model a sustainable, home grown, grassroots low budget agency with a focus on teaching, publicizing and informing how to reduce hunger by reducing, reusing and recycling good, nutritious food that is slated to be wasted.
History
FDN started in 1988 to aid destitute migrant farm workers in 112 migrant labor camps (Sodus, NY) with basic necessities. In 1992, the program expanded to include Ithaca and surrounding communities. Twenty four hunger programs pick up donations of mostly fresh perishable food donated by area donors, including deliveries of free food to low-wage work sites and rural poor. FDN provides a teaching model for innovative and transformative practices to save nutritious food from being dumped and instead, divert it to those in need.
Service to the Community
Up to 2,100 persons are served weekly through 24 hunger programs. Each pantry receives about 1,000-1,500 pounds of mostly fresh, perishable food donations daily – fruits, vegetables, assorted breads and pastries, assorted groceries, variety of dairy and deli items, eggs, pizzas and more!
Donations
- In-Kind Donations: up to $1.5 million annually
- Food Donations: 1,000 to 1,500 lbs per day; 10,000 to 12,000 lbs per week; (more on holidays); up to 600,000 lbs per year
- Value of Food Donations: $2,000 to $4,000 per day; $1.2 to $1.5 million per year with increases on holidays and harvest time.
- Number of Consumers Served: up to 2,100 per week. Pantries are held weekly; bi-weekly; or monthly. There is a pantry daily in Ithaca or nearby communities every day of the week including weekends. Daily and weekends – 7 days per week – community meals are served in Ithaca.
- Donors: Wegmans (anchor donor); P&C Supermarkets; Tops Supermarkets; Greenstar Co-op; Ithaca Bakery; Cornell Dairy Store, Cornell Orchards, Homer C. Thompson Research Farm; USDA Farm; Finger Lakes Fresh; Ludgate Farm; Westhaven Farm and CSA; Grisamore Farm; Regional Access; Three Swallows Farm; other area farms and CSA’s (in season); “Dump and Run” reuse sale; Community food drives; Clarity Connect; Service League Shop and community residents; House of Shalimar; Park Foundation
Hunger Programs Served by FDN Donations
- Community free hot meals: at Loaves and Fishes (Monday to Friday); Our Brothers, “Our Sisters Table” (Saturday, Sunday) at The Salvation Army.
- Food pantries: Immaculate Conception Church pantry; McLean Community Church Pantry; Candor “Bread of Life Pantry”; Halsey Valley food pantry; Danby Food Pantry; Interlaken Reformed Church food pantry; Ithaca Home Schoolers Family Pantry; Grace Church pantry; “Worker’s Center” Pantry at Linderman Creek low-Income Housing; Overlook low-income apartments Pantry; Maranatha Church Pantry; Pine Valley rural Pantry; Catlin First Methodist Church Pantry; Reach out for Christ Church Pantry, Newfield outreach for rural trailer park residents; Mental Health Association outreach program; outreach to area low income work sites and trailer parks.
- Non-profit community programs: Cayuga Addiction and Recovery; Enfield School snacks for kids); BJM School snacks; Youth Bureau – Big Brother, Big Sister program; Tompkins County Probation Department (snacks); Women’s Opportunity Center (snacks); other agencies
Organization
- Staff and Volunteers: 24 hunger programs and their 235 volunteers pick up food from donors and deliver it to their respective programs; they set up the pantry and distribute the food to those in need.
- A part-time Operations Coordinator was recently employed. FDN is hoping to hire a part-time director.
- FDN is a non-denominational organization and does not promote any message, including religion.
- Tax Exemption: FDN’s 501C3. A Tax deduction for donations is available. Social Ventures, Inc. is the fiscal sponsor of FDN. Checks should be made to: Social Ventures, Inc. and earmarked: FDN
- Advisory Committee: FDN’s Advisory Committee of eleven community members is a working Advisory Committee. Five committees performs the work needed as well as advising and guiding FDN in its daily operations.
Budget
- Total Annual budget: $45,000
- Funding: 2010. Additional funding is needed to fund the full year.
- Endowment: $0
- Your help is needed today to help support FDN!
- Please donate!
How FDN Differs from other Hunger Programs in the Community
FDN’s mission to not only to serve, but of equal importance, to provide an innovative and transformative teaching model that will encourage other communities to take action to reduce and reuse 100,000 billion pounds of good food that is dumped in every community that does not have a similar program to divert good food from the landfill to donating it to those in need.
It differs from food banks that provides mostly processed, non-perishable food that is high in salt, fat, sugar, artificial non-food ingredients to food pantries and other member programs. Food banks must charge member programs for overhead per pound or package of food.
FDN has never paid for food! The two programs differ in approach to obtaining food – FDN ‘rescues’ mostly nutritious fresh perishable food from local food outlets, and on holidays, from colleges and universities (mostly when they close for vacations). The food is picked up by volunteers daily. They deliver it directly to their pantry. It is distributed within one or more hours on the day it is picked up. If FDN did not exist, donations would most likely be dumped and would contribute to environmental degradation and increased hunger.
It is the most sustainable program there is in that it ‘rescues’ what will be wasted and diverts it to the hungry. It does not have to be planted, watered, harvested, transported, package or sold. It is just there for the taking by an appropriate reliable, responsible entity!
The level of need in upstate and rural areas, particularly for nutritious fresh perishable food, is high. It is now at crisis level due to the economic downturn and dramatic increase in unemployment and underemployment. Families are forced to buy cheaper processed and starchy foods rather than fresh produce. The epidemic of obesity and Diabetes 2 among children poses a serious health problem; most processed food is filled with sugar, salt, white flour, corn syrup and other corn derivatives. The need for fresh produce, unprocessed food and whole grains is critical to diminish the many health issues that poor people face. FDN strives to teach healthy eating and cooking methods at its pantries and programs.
FDN encourages all its programs to become members of the food bank so that they may offer a wider assortment of food as well as a more reliable source of food at each of the pantries. The two programs are not redundant: seven of FDN’s 24 pantries/programs are members of both Networks. Thus, they are able to offer a greater variety and quantity of perishable and non-perishable food at each pantry and program.
