Note from the CEO
December, 2024
Change is both inevitable and essential in the lifecycle of any organization or business. While many organizations pledge to embrace change and improvement, the process of change management can be extremely challenging. At the Food Bank, our team serves as agents of change, guided by our commitment to continuous improvement in all that we do. By collaborating, sharing ideas, and challenging the status quo, we identify opportunities for growth, overcome obstacles, and ensure changes are implemented and communicated effectively.
We don’t want our progress to be unknown, especially when the changes we are making will greatly benefit the community we serve. Whether it’s a broad, multi-year strategic plan or more targeted operational adjustments to our programs and services, we are committed to keeping all of our stakeholders – from our supporters to those who rely on our services – well informed.
As we move into 2025 and beyond, I want you to be aware of some of the opportunities we have to create impactful change in our community.
New Strategic Plan beginning in 2025
With guidance and expertise from consultants, partially funded by the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado, our leadership team, board and other program staff have embarked on a planning and strategy process. This effort has resulted in six strategic objectives that will guide our focus on change and growth over the next few years. You can view an overview of the plan online here. These objectives were shaped by a thorough examination of our organization’s core values and assumptions, aiming to enhance client experiences, share our story more effectively, and ensure organizational strength.
Client Focus Groups
When we say we care what our clients think, we mean it. And to find out what they think, we create formal ways to get this information. In 2024 we hosted fourteen client focus groups in both English and Spanish. Topics covered ranged from understanding clients’ ideas and thoughts about our SNAP outreach and support approaches to experiences shopping at our no-cost markets and working with other programs and services.
These focus groups were invaluable in helping us understand how our decisions impact our clients and how the processes we design are experienced by those who navigate them regularly. After gathering ideas, feedback, and opinions from the focus groups, we carefully analyzed the input and organized it into “buckets” and “themes.” These categories represent the areas we believe will have the greatest and most positive impact on our clients.
Accessible Shopping Hours
One of the concepts that emerged from these focus groups is that there is a need for hours designated specially for older adults and those with disabilities. Based on this feedback we will begin “accessible shopping hours” every Wednesday beginning in January.
By designating accessible hours for our older adults and people with disabilities, we hope that people using our no-cost markets on this day will experience shorter wait times and have more space and assistance to complete shopping. As part of this effort, we’ve created new volunteer assistant shopping roles, called “client shopping buddies.” These volunteers will be prepared to help clients shop, based on their individual needs. Volunteers can assist with loading their cart, helping them navigate the shopping floor, getting the cart to the car, loading the car, etc. They are also there to provide a social connection while the clients are shopping, as many older adults experience high levels of isolation.
From Hunger to Health
I have a long held belief that what we eat is tied to our overall health which is why our food bank has prioritized healthy food and fresh produce when we have a choice. The same philosophy is held in our community kitchen where we prepare scratch cooked meals for kids and seniors. We are in the early and exploratory stages of taking that one step further into the “Food is Medicine” space.
In reality, this is what we’ve been doing for years, we just didn’t have a catchy name for it! “Food is Medicine” is simply a philosophy that food can be used to prevent, manage and treat disease and improve food security at the same time.
Thanks to a grant from Feeding America we are able to take steps to pilot specific programs and program outcomes to measure the impact of nutritionally dense meals on overall health. We have hired a chef to help with research and development of frozen meals and have engaged health care partners. Initially we will be working with older adults, over the age of 60, who suffer from chronic malnutrition to promote health and well-being.
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