NNEMAP Food Pantry is a non-profit corporation. Two key concepts reside in there, but I’m going to focus on the second idea: corporation. Non-profit organizations are businesses. As such, there are expenses–occupancy/rent; utilities; payroll; equipment. In that way we are just like, say, General Motors or Microsoft. 

As a social service agency, we clearly have a different product line from a car manufacturer or software developer. Instead of products, we offer programming–in our case, free groceries for low-income customers. And we have different expectations on how we expect those programs to perform. We are not in existence to make money, but we have to offer some sort of value proposition if we can expect community support. 

Our grocery delivery service, introduced and eventually made permanent last year, provides an excellent return on investment for the community. Here is how the numbers work out:

-Every grocery delivery that we complete costs about $13. That’s for everything. Food, staff time, mileage–the works.

-A 2017 assessment of food-insecure families found that the average low-income household in Franklin County spent $2.02 per person per meal.

-The average amount of food we deliver replaces about 31 meals for the recipient household. Stay with me here.

-By delivering food to provide 31 meals, NNEMAP Food Pantry is saving customers, on average, $62.62 per delivery. We’ll do the math: 31 meals x $2.02 per meal. Instead of spending money to have groceries delivered by a for-profit grocer at a steep markup, we deliver similar products for free. Instead of paying for a restaurant to deliver food for one or two meals for the household, we deliver food for 3 DAYS or more. Instead of going hungry, customers get fresh, healthy produce and great shelf-stable goods to go with it.

We spend about $13 per delivery. But we SAVE customers $62 and change. That is ALMOST a 5-to-1 return on investment ratio (4.81-to-1 to be exact). Would Microsoft invest in a project with that kind of return? Thinking yes.

Your support for NNEMAP Food Pantry provides big returns for the community. If you would like to help with a cash donation or volunteer to be a delivery driver, you can do it right now by clicking below. Thank you for your support!

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