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Hebron Food Pantry, Inc.

ANNUAL REPORT 2007

MISSION STATEMENT

The Hebron Food Pantry Mission is to assist low income

and/or disadvantaged individuals and families, within our service area,

by providing resources to enhance their quality of life.

VISION STATEMENT

The Hebron Food Pantry Vision is to provide programs,

consistent with our Mission, and based upon expertise and/or skills

available within the HFP organization.

GOAL

The Hebron Food Pantry Goal is to become expert at the

programs offered.

Hebron Food Pantry, Inc.

11 Sanford Street, PO Box 92, Attleboro, MA 02703

Phone: 508.223.4257 email:dirHFP@hotmail.com website: www.hebronfoodpantry.org

PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD’S MESSAGE

The year 2007 was an exciting year for the Hebron Food Pantry, Inc. Putting our mission into action in an even more effective way was possible because:

The New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, owners of the facility from which HFP operated, the former Hebron Village United Methodist Church building, decided to grant Centenary United Methodist Church the proceeds of any sale.

The building was sold in 2007, forcing HFP to move our organization and both food pantries.

Centenary United Methodist Church, the place where this mission started, voted to use about $100,000 from the proceeds of the sale to build a 70+ foot long access ramp and remodel a portion of their lower level to accommodate HFP and both food pantries in bright, clean, efficient, modern quarters.

This is a remarkable show of confidence in HFP, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, no longer officially attached to Centenary United Methodist Church, but still Centenary’s major mission.

HFP moved to the renovated location in the fall of 2007, having moved temporarily in late spring into the former parsonage of the Hebron Village church, which is next door.

Increasing the hours of our part-time staff person, Director - Food Pantries, Michelle Burch, from 15 to 20 hours per week, was necessary. This occurred even before the move, due to increasing numbers of individuals and families coming in search of assistance.

Michelle is doing a remarkable job in managing the day-to-day operation of the pantries, and increasingly handling the many other administrative duties involved. Both pantry Coordinators, working with Michelle and our volunteers, have created a smooth-running non-profit organization meeting its goals and fulfilling its present mission.

We have broadened the membership of the Board, bringing in specific talents and interests, which compliment our requirements. If you have the desire to participate in the growth, management, or programs of HFP, please do contact us. We, very much, would like to talk with you about your ideas and areas of interest. (See the list of Board members at the end of this report.)

The Center continues to be a significant asset to the approximately 180 working and senior persons, families, and individuals whom we assist every week. You might be interested to know that every dollar contributed to HFP can be turned into approximately $20.00 of food when we make purchases at The Greater Boston Food Bank. We can multiply generosity 20 times.

A special thank you must be said to the coordinators of our food pantries for their steady week-by-week presence. Also, thank you to all board members, and the 60+ volunteers, who make this mission happen. Without you, there would be no HFP. We all seem to respond to the great feeling there is in helping others to do better, and to have more.

We are touching many lives, but in this time of escalating living costs, increasing numbers of people are coming forward asking for assistance. We have served as many as 200 families in a single week. Only through the generosity of Grantors, Attleboro area people, and businesses, can this work continue.

The annual reports that follow try to outline for you key activities of the past year. Exciting things are happening at HFP. We are fulfilling our mission, helping so many in need.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

This has been a year to remember in the life of Hebron Food Pantry, Inc! I have completed my second full year as the Director of Food Pantries and it has been exciting. As reported above, we moved twice, and are now settled in our permanent home in the lower level of Centenary United Methodist Church. It was worth the times during the summer when things weren’t running quite as smoothly as we would like. We dealt with cramped quarters, and complaints from guests waiting outside in the rain and cold. But we did not miss one week of service and we are proud of that fact. The number of people coming into the food pantry has continued to grow over the last year, and we have been able to serve every one that comes in for assistance. We have learned to get by with the free items we receive from the Greater Boston Food Bank, which have gone down in the last year.

I have continued to clean up our mailing list in the Attleboro area for our ‘Hebron Happenings’ newsletter and other mailings that go out during the year. I continue to strive for an accurate count of the people we serve. This count is very important in submitting our numbers to the Greater Boston Food Bank so we can receive the proper allocations of food surplus.

A local karate studio, Personal Best Karate in Norton, put together over 2,000 baskets for Thanksgiving. About 150 of those were delivered to people from HFP. In addition we handed out over 125 turkeys on Tuesday before Thanksgiving, plus we had some people just come in to get food and didn’t need a turkey. We were able to help over 200 people receive food for Thanksgiving.

It is a real pleasure to work with our Coordinators, and all the volunteers who make HFP happen. I have been to many Attleboro area committee meetings, along with being a member of the Agency Advisory Council of the GBFB and a board member of the Greater Attleboro Area Coalition for the Homeless. Everyone is working hard to not have anyone go hungry, especially when prices are rising so much, and we are doing our best to fulfill that mission. I will continue to try and spread the word about HFP, to help those in need, and to raise money for our programs.

Michelle Burch, Director - Food Pantries

WORKING PERSON’S FOOD PANTRY REPORT

Operates every Thursday from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

The WPFP continues to distribute nutritious food every week to working families in the Attleboro area. An average of 110 families per week has been served. About 6,000 pounds of food distributed weekly, valued at $600,000+ annually, at retail. The Greater Boston Food Bank continues to supply most of the food, with major contributions from Stop & Shop, Target Stores, Entenmann’s and seasonal fresh produce donations from Mr. Amoral. Many food drives, and organizational giving, make up the balance.

Our number of people served this past year has continued to grow, and we expect to see further substantial increases due to:

Our new location,

Extensive publicity around the move,

Reduced government funding of hunger programs,

The faltering economy, and, therefore

Increasing numbers of people in need.

We anticipate serving at least 20% more people in 2008.

The WPFP is our biggest success story, and we owe much of that to the dedicated volunteers that we have. We have over 60 volunteers that do everything from picking up bread, to sweeping the floor, to monitoring the parking lot, to stocking shelves and helping people pick what canned goods they want for the week. It is a very dedicated and committed group of people that make the food pantry run every week. We are proud to say that many of them originally came to the Working Person’s Food Pantry because they needed help. They volunteer now in order to help others.

Suzanne LaFlamme, Coordinator – Working Person’s Food Pantry

SENIOR’S FOOD PANTRY REPORT

Operates every Tuesday from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM.

The change to creating a separate food pantry for seniors continues to be a good move. The seniors like coming in the daylight, and the reduced numbers on Thursday night make the Working Person’s Food Pantry run more smoothly. Numbers of seniors showing up on Tuesday mornings continually grows, currently running well over 50 most of the time. Our senior pantry runs like clockwork on Tuesdays. We have a fewer number of volunteers since it is during the day, but we seem to be able to help everyone that comes in just the same.

Don Fasulo, Coordinator – Senior’s Food Pantry

MOVING COSTS

A grant request was submitted to The Bristol County Savings Charitable Foundation asking for monies to pay for the new equipment acquired for the new home of both food pantries at 11 Sanford Street. We received $5,500, which more than covered the cost of the two new, commercial-grade refrigeration and freezer units that were purchased. Additional grant requests have been submitted to cover the balance of moving and new equipment costs. Results should be known by the end of March 2008.

IT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Our ever-improving website has received a lot of work this year. We are please with how it operates now, and plan to continue to add pictures and information, as well as keep it up to date with the latest about HFP and the need to address hunger and food insecurity in our area. Please visit it at www.hebronfoodpantry.org

Hebron Happenings, the HFP newsletter, is published in April, September and December, providing news, pictures, and human interest stories about this organization. Approximately 800 individuals, organizations and businesses are on our mailing list. A fund raising letter, timed to coincide with the Alan Feinstein Foundation $1,000,000 annual donation to alleviate hunger, was mailed in early March, This connection provides HFP with a share of the $1,000,000 contributed by Alan Feinstein.

We solicit newspaper articles in The Sun Chronicle, as it becomes possible, to further broaden the awareness of our mission and activities, and utilize the local weekly newspapers in this area to spread the word about HFP. The paper gave us great coverage throughout the renovation and moving process.

Our Director is increasing her presence with organizations and agencies in the greater Attleboro area, spreading the word about the services offered at HFP.

Jane Ranson, IT and Communications

COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND SUPPORT

HFP continually accepts opportunities to present our story to the greater Attleboro community. Despite our efforts, contributions in 2007 dropped from the year 2006, so we are more actively seeking assistance from other grantors to make up the difference. This is the second year of declining individual and organizational contributions. The need grows. Our numbers climb. The challenge becomes greater.

THE METHODIST CONNECTION

Since HFP started as a Centenary United Methodist Church mission project, the present non-profit 501(c)(3) organization has unique and valuable ties to the Methodist church. We received Mission Possible monies again in 2007, and are blessed by the decision regarding a permanent facility, mentioned in the President’s Report. Conversations continue with Conference leaders to find ways to obtain funding from the greater Methodist church.

HFP remains Centenary UMC’s primary mission, where members and friends continue to take a monthly special collection in support of the Working Person’s Food Pantry. A large portion of the Board is made up of Centenary members, but broad community representation exists, and more is actively sought.

2006 FINANCIALS

We are pleased to report that HFP finished the year in the black, and was able to set aside some monies in a Program Continuity Fund, better assuring our ability to serve our target populations, even should the numbers of persons, or food costs, jump up quickly.

IN SUMMARY

This is the 7^th year since our incorporation as a non-profit organization, and almost 10 years since the inception of this idea as a mission project. What an exciting roller-coaster ride it has been. But what wonderful things have happened, and so much good has been done. The constantly increasing numbers of individuals and families coming to our pantries demonstrates the need.

The idea of a Working Person’s Food Pantry is acclaimed by other organizations and experts as unique, and as fulfilling a real need in our society. Our two target populations are, truly, in need of special help – low-income working people and seniors receiving social security and little else.

This year there are special needs, which make our task a little bit harder:

The need for food assistance in the City of Attleboro, as based upon data published by the U.S. Federal Government and Project Bread, has increased 22 percent in just the first half of this decade.

Government allocations and other contributions, supporting agencies serving that increased need, are decreasing, due to level funding and to the larger number of agencies trying to serve. All agencies are sharing the same allocation “pie.”

As the numbers of persons needing assistance goes up, the cost of operation likewise goes up. In our case we have had to increase the hours of our Director by 33%, as well as to pay substantially higher food costs.

While we continue to accelerate our private fund-raising efforts, we are asking for increases in some grants for 2008, hoping that we can continue to assist the increasing numbers of hard-working and senior persons who turn to us for help. We are hopeful that our increasing 2008 need for operating funds will be seen by all as worthy of strong support.

A great big thank you to all who have supported HFP, who have volunteered, who have taken on positions of responsibility, and to those who have done just one specific small task. It is only through working together that we can create this positive effect in the lives of those who are in need.

While the accomplishment of eradicating hunger is the goal, that realization may be a long ways away. Certainly, increasing the minimum wage, as is being moved forward at the national level, will help. And increasing promotion of the Food Stamp Program is positive. But there will be needs to fill. HFP’s challenge is to find the funding to enable it to keep-on keeping-on, and to tap into the conscience of greater Attleboro about the rightness of helping neighbors in need. We are up to the challenge. We believe that this community is, as well.

Thank you for listening.