2022 Annual Report
RVFB is the primary emergency food resource for Seattle's most racially, ethnically, and economically diverse neighborhood. Home to many people of color, immigrants, and refugees who regularly face systemic obstacles to living wage employment, affordable housing, and food security.
After years of serving our community out of a 1,200 sq ft facility, we finally purchased a home of our own and moved 3.2 miles down Rainier Avenue South into a facility nearly 6x larger! We're thrilled by its potential and are looking forward to transforming it into the hub our community deserves.
Rooted in rainier
The strength and generosity of our community has made it possible for us to continue to spread our roots. From our humble start in 1991 as Northwest Community Services in our original 1,200-sq ft home in Rainier Valley to setting down roots in an 10,000-square-foot facility in Rainier Beach. We're excited to provide new services and continued access to fresh, healthy, and culturally sensitive food to our South Seattle community. Thank you for helping us stay rooted in Rainier!
Our Mission
Nourish with good food, empower with knowledge, and serve with compassion.
Our Vision
A hunger-free South Seattle.
What We Do
As a low-barrier food bank, we provide resources to anyone who comes across our doorstep without question. Over the years, we've expanded to provide connections to wrap-around support to address the systemic barriers that lead to hunger in our community.
The State of Food Insecurity
Throughout the past year, inflation caused the cost of living to soar nationwide. Food prices in Seattle rose an average of 8%, creating more barriers to fresh, healthy food and leading new neighbors to our food bank for support.
48%
of our budget comes from neighbors like you.
A Message from Our Leadership
Gloria Hatcher-Mays
Executive Director
2022 was a year for gaining stability in our new location and looking ahead to our future development with our capital building project. We reopened our grocery shopping program and have seen our numbers for households served return to pre-pandemic levels. As the impacts of inflation persisted, those numbers started to climb. RVFB has always been an organization that has a focus on solutions, and this year saw us partner with Jewish Family Service to begin developing a new way of reaching community members with food services: online ordering. We are very excited about this new opportunity and look forward to sharing our progress with you in 2023. Our success is made possible because of the support we have received from our community. Please watch for opportunities to tour our facility and stay tuned for our growth at our new location.
Margaret Gofman
Board Chair
2022 has been our first full year in the Rainier Beach neighborhood. Committed outreach into the community by RVFB staff and board members has connected us to new partnerships, clients, volunteers, board, and committee members. A special thank you to all our donors for your donations of money and/or time. Also, to the staff members of the RVFB who continue to dedicate themselves to our mission. All have expressed great enthusiasm as we “take root” and settle into our new home. We look forward to continuing to grow and mature in 2023.
Meet the Team
Our Staff
Abnet Hailu
Community Connector
Anyah Zupancic
Development Associate
Driver & Logistics Assistant
Administrative Assistant
Executive Director
Food Bank Coordinator
James Johnson-Gruspe
Youth Outreach Coordinator
Jarrod Wright
Data Coordinator
Executive Assistant
Senior Marketing Communications Specialist
Financial Manager
Jovon Wayne
Warehouse Assistant
Development Director
Director of Operations
Warehouse Manager
Ryan Cooper
Volunteer Coordinator
Office Assistant
Tara Migliore
Operations Manager
Funding the food bank
Total Revenue
In-kind
Individual
Corporate & Employer
Foundation
Government
Fundraising Event
Interest & Other
$1,255,633
$2,788,773
$298,454
$724,401
$584,959
$89,871
$21,524
Total
$5,763,616
Total Expenses
Programs & Services
Management & General
Fundraising
$2,676,530
$422,342
$502,156
Total
$3,601,028
Leftover revenue represents funds raised for our new building in addition to an operational reserve, started in 2020.
“As an RVFB intern, I constantly learned and gained professional experience, specifically in communications and administration. It was exciting to see the organization's growth over the past year. I feel welcomed and inspired by the community here and empowered by the mission statement's commitment to combatting food insecurity.”
Ava Michler
Participant of RVFB's first intern cohort
our programs
In 2022, we offered a hybrid service model for the first half of the year, resulting in amendments to our program statistics.
Home Delivery
Bringing nourishment to our neighbor’s doorsteps.
Our Home Delivery Program provides weekly deliveries of grocery bags filled with fresh produce, meat, and dry goods for our neighbors in South Seattle.
15,479
deliveries made to households throughout South Seattle.
500
families received weekly deliveries throughout the year.
Grocery Shopping
Because we all deserve to choose the foods we enjoy.
Stop by on Friday or Saturday to shop our distribution center. Browse our shelves and select the items your family prefers.
3,071
households shopped at our food bank in 2022.
32,738
visits were made to the food bank in 2022.
1,400
families received food each week.
spark to-go
Because everyone deserves a meal, prepared with care.
A pre-made meal for those that don’t have access to housing, a place to cook, or are in transition.
14,346
meals were provided to guests who stopped by the food bank in 2022.
backpack
So that families can gather and share meals throughout the weekend.
Available through our partnered South Seattle Schools, families eligible for free and reduced lunch programs receive groceries to address the hunger gap experienced over the weekend.
19,293
deliveries of weekend food support provided to families throughout South Seattle.
521
families received weekly food support for the weekend throughout the year.
9
schools joined in as partners for our backpack program.
community connector
Because the need for food doesn't exist in isolation.
Get help connecting to and navigating other sources of aid for housing, utility bills, clothing, healthcare, and more.
236
individuals were connected to services via our community connector program.
Our community
In 2022 RVFB…….
Was open for
202 days of service.
Distributed
1.3 million lbs. of food.
Received
650,000 lbs. of food donations.
Purchased
nearly 575,000 lbs. of food.
Volunteer impact
Our community gave nearly 16,000 service hours, which is equivalent to 6 additional full-time employees.
189,503
visits were made to the food bank throughout 2022.
South Seattle's demographics based on data collected by the Seattle Times in 2019.
Although RVFB does not restrict who may receive services, our guests primarily reside in the 98199, 98108, 98104, 98144, and 98118 zip codes.
1 in 5 neighbors live in poverty.
Nearly 80% of children in our service area qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.
More than 60 different languages are spoken in our community.
25% of the population near RVFB has an income 200% below the federal poverty level.
70% of our program participants are first-generation immigrants from China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Korea, Somalia, Russia, and Ukraine.
our RVFB community is made up of
1,774 donors
745 volunteers
18 staff members
13,000+ guests
Our partnerships
Community Partners
AARP · Access Wireless · Assurance Wireless · Bang Bang Kitchen · Beacon Food Forest · Buddha Bruddah · Career Path Services · Chickadee Bakeshop · Chuck’s Hop Shop · City Fruit · Click and Pledge Foundation · Community Loaves · Delish Ethiopian Cuisine · Faith Over Fear Hospitality House Food Truck · Follow Me Catering Co · Food Lifeline · F5 · Geraldine's Counter · GoPuff · Grand Central Bakery · Jewish Family Service · King County Public Health · King County Mobile Medical Program · Kirsop Farm · Madrona Elementry - People's Pop-Up Pantry · Muriel's · Neighbor Sally's Greenhouse · Northwest Harvest · Rainier Beach Action Coalition · REACH · Real Escape from the Sex Trade · Ruby Apple Jewelry · Rookies Sports Bar & Grill · Seattle Food Committee · Seattle Public Utilities & Uplift Northwest · Seattle Urban League · Seattle Youth Employment Program - City of Seattle · Stroum Jewish Community Center · Super Six · The Pantry Seattle · Tutta Bella · Teens in Public Service · Teen Chef Program - Garfield Community Center · Terrabbonne Truck Patch · TRAC Interns · Westside Baby · Young Men's Service League
Food Drives
Bertchi School · Bike Works · Both Ways Cafe · Bradner Gardens · Car Max · Catapult NW · Chuck's Hop Shop Seward Park· Chubb Insurance · Columbia Distributing · Deckhand Seafoods · Dragon Boat Club · Food Not Bombs · Geraldine's Counter · Harvest Against Hunger · Hawkins Community Garden · IICF Insurance Group · Impact Salish Sea Elementary · Judkins P-Patch · Krishnam Family · Seattle King County Realtors · Lake Washington Girls School · La Escuelita Bilingual School · Partake Brewing · Pure Grit Performance · Rainier Health & Fitness · Renew Physical Therapy · Rudy's Barber Shop · Seattle Gymnastics Academy · Seattle Swim Academy · Seattle Tree Care · St Paul's Catholic Church · St Jude · Third Place Books · TOPS School · UA Local 32 Plumbers Pipe Fitters Union · Zeek's Pizza
“Food drives are very important these days. Many people give gifts of food to show support, love, and connection to the community. Donating wholesome food for human consumption also diverts food waste from landfills and puts food on the table for our neighbors and families in need. Food drive donations of non-perishable and unspoiled foods from homes and businesses also help stock the shelves of many food banks, pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters. So let's show some love and dedication to our communities because EVERYBODY'S GOT TO EAT!”
Henry "Jai" Harris
Food Bank Coordinator
Sponsors
Join us
Munch Madness
Feeding Families 5K
Food Fight
Community Harvest Gala
Feast & Friendzy
Cookie Party
Volunteers in Action
Board of Directors · Capital Campaign Committee · Client Care · Data Entry · Development Committee · Facilities Committee · Finance Committee · Graphic Design · Grocery Packing · Grocery Rescue · Grocery Shopping Assistant · Grounds Maintenance · Guest Check-in · Home Delivery Driver · Marketing & Communications · Translation