Annual Report

FARMVILLE AREA COMMUNITY EMERGENCY SERVICES

ANNUAL REPORT 2006

I. OVERVIEW

After three years of significant changes to the operation of FACES, we welcomed 2006 as almost a year of “business as usual.”  However, we continue to grow both in numbers of clients served and in the amount of food we are able to distribute to each client family.  The numbers of volunteers involved in FACES operations have also increased. Especially significant is the fact that many young people, both town residents and college students, are becoming involved.  In an agency that has been run largely by retirees, this is a particularly encouraging trend!

II. DISTRIBUTIONS

According to a publication by the Central Virginia Food Bank, we distributed 565,980 pounds of food in the period from October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006. FACES ranks third in central Virginia (behind Richmond and Henrico Co.) in the amount of food distributed.  This comes to more than 10,000 lbs of food per week.  If we divide this total by the average number of weekly “bags” distributed, a single “bag” (which includes extra meat, produce, staples and bread products) averages nearly 20 lbs.

A total of 24,580 bags of food were distributed.  The average weekly distribution for 2006 was 615 bags, compared to 578 for 2005.  This represented a 6.4% increase.  In 2005 the increase was nearly double that figure, so perhaps we are starting to see a stabilization of demand. We had hoped that given our new registration procedure instituted in 2004, average bag numbers would stabilize around 550, but the trend is again upward; in November 2006 the weekly average distribution was 685 bags per week (2005: 531), in only four months of 2006 was the average number of bags per week below 600.  The biggest single week was the third week in November, when we gave out 741 bags of food.

The average number of families served per week in 2006 was 423 (2005: 377), a 12.2% increase.  Only in August 2006 was the average weekly number of families below 400.

Weekly bags, at minimum, contained 3 canned items, 2 dry items, cereal, a “staple” such as macaroni and cheese, and frozen meat as available (meat appears in the bags almost all Saturdays), but only on a few Saturdays were we restricted to minimum bags.  For many clients arriving before 10:00 AM, bread, cakes and pies, and fresh produce were available as extras, though these often run out well before closing.  At our Christmas Eve distribution, we

provided each family with a ham.  With our walk-in cooler we are able to accept produce and perishables, such as milk, margarine and eggs, from the Central Virginia Food Bank and local sources.  Because the Food Bank cannot distribute these to agencies without facilities to keep them, we get these items very cheaply, and often for nothing.  This has been a great help to our clients, who appreciate these items of fresh food, and to our finances under the impact once again of rapidly increasing demand.

III. FINANCES

See the treasurer’s report for details (attached at the end of this report).  Income dropped significantly, to $46,647, as opposed to $51,729.20 (-9.8%) in 2004.  Giving by individuals, however, was up—to $17,898 from $15,296.25 in 2005.  This was the second large increase in a row and was attributable to an even better response to our envelopes delivered with the Farmville Herald, as well as e-mail appeals on the Hampden-Sydney and Longwood campuses.  A striking increase occurred in client and miscellaneous donations: from $73.94 in 2005 to $339 in 2006.  The greatest drop in donations came in the category of Organizations, where the total for 2006 was only $7,885 as opposed to $14,797.07 in 2005.  However, this almost entirely represents the late arrival of our annual WalMart grant and the fact that in 2005 we received a one-time large grant from Farmville Rotary.

Our expeditures for food amounted to $42,542.  Total expenses came to $49,921, resulting in a deficit of $3,274.  This is only about half the 2005 deficit.  Thus despite the drop in income, we are actually in better shape than last year at this time.

How are we able to reduce expenses and still significantly increase the amount of food distributed and the numbers of families served?  No small part of this result is due to the walk-in cooler (purchased with a grant from Farmville Rotary) that enables us to accept fresh foods from the Food Bank.  Because few other agencies have this capacity, we usually get this food from the Food Bank for nothing—otherwise it would simply spoil in their warehouse.

The treasurer has run a projected budget for 2007 which shows that we will need around $51,700 income to break even for the coming year.  Income for 2006 was about $5,000 short of this goal, so clearly additional fund-raising efforts will be required.

IV. DONATIONS

Donations of food continued to be important for our operation and demonstrated the broad base of support we enjoy.  Churches, Hunters for the Hungry, the Boy Scouts, and Fuqua School Youth for Christ continued to be major donors, and additional donations came in from private individuals.  Gifts of money from churches and individuals allowed us to multiply value in food many times over.  Grants of continuing support that were particularly important to us came from SMI Rebar, United Way, FEMA, the Walmart Foundation, Prince Edward County and the Town of Farmville.

V. FACILITIES

We have now been in our present Distribution Center for nearly three years (since March, 2004).  We have added, thanks to the Rotary Club, a walk-in cooler, and in 2005 purchased our own forklift, which has made unloading trucks a much easier task.  Our own truck has been put to good use this year for gleaning expeditions and hauling donated food from remote locations.

VI. OPERATIONS

Operations continue to go smoothly under the capable leadership of Geoff Orth, with considerable assistance from a regular crew of volunteers who show up to unload trucks.

VII. PROSPECTS

With guardedly optimistic economic outlooks for the nation and the area, FACES’ prospects look good.  Continued generosity from the community seems to ensure that we will be able to continue to serve our client base, but in 2007 we may once again have to address the issue of our growing roll of client families, since despite the restriction of our service area, this has continued to grow such that we are now again nearly at the limit of what we can do.  We have demonstrated that we can raise nearly $50,000 per year from a community base of around 12,000 population, remarkable for any charity, and if this can continue, together with our solid reserves, we will be able to keep providing for our region’s hungry families.

VIII. APPRECIATIONS

The churches which man the weekly distributions (Worsham Baptist, Johns Memorial, College Church and Heritage Baptist) continue to be the mainstay of the operation.  As already mentioned, students from the two colleges supplement the forces available from the churches on most Saturday mornings.

The FACES Board is a working board, as its members know.  During 2005, several board members did outstanding jobs and deserve to be singled out.  During 2006, Dennis Burges, one of our most active board members, moved to California.  We will miss Dennis!  Dave and Cecelia Culler, Geoff, Kathy, and Andy Orth, Marilyn Osborn, and Virginia Kinman are long-serving board members who have shouldered most of the work of FACES for years.  Rev. Marcy Orr joined the board in 2005 and has proved an active and diligent member and liason with the local churches.  Chuck Davison has joined the board and is there every Saturday morning, as well as helping to unload trucks.  Chuck Elstun is a volunteer who is there every Saturday.

The editorial support of the Farmville Herald was much appreciated, and invaluable in keeping FACES in the public eye.  We are also grateful to Food Lion for their cooperation, which allows us to purchase paper bags in bulk, arranged for the purchase and delivery of more than 600 hams, and through the generosity of its customers, also made a substantial donation of food in December.

It would take a much longer document than this one to thank every agency, organization and individual that should be thanked.  FACES is the expression of a community’s compassion.  I speak for all members of the board in saying “Thanks” for making our work possible.