Disaster preparedness is part of Montgomery Area Food Bank’s operational plan, and while measures are being taken to ensure the continuity of our operations, please continue to “watch this space” and monitor our social media for what will likely be fluid changes and adjustments.
The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) has set up a hotline;1-888-264-2256 for the latest information regarding testing.
While developing the Hinman Building capital campaign, particular focus was placed upon delivering added value to donors. Community support of the MAFB mission through personalizing a Building Brick provides a unique means of ultimately receiving tangible recognition of that support, which will last. The community will quite literally be added to MAFB’s future and a donor’s generosity will be recognized as patrons, employees, volunteers and supporters enter our new E. Parke Hinman, III Building.
Capital Campaign Provides Visible, Lasting Recognition
All information in support of personalizing a Building Brick is available here - or by clicking on the brick logo on virtually every page of the MAFB web site. Corporate logos require an additional step of verifying trademark rights, but the entire process is direct and supported by customer service professionals to answer any of your questions.
The trajectory of Montgomery Area Food Bank’s (MAFB) ability to Feed Hope Across Alabama was changed forever, when MacKenzie Scott announced in mid-December a philanthropic investment of more than $4 Billion in charitable causes throughout the United States, and MAFB was one of the 384 organizations that will benefit from her generosity.
“This is a game-changing, transformative contribution,” said Chief Executive Officer Richard A. Deem. “The bottom line is, we’ve been afforded an unbelievably rare opportunity to reach more food insecure Alabamians. But when it comes to talking about how much, we’re going to go with 'substantial' for the time being.”
The size of the donation made to Montgomery Area Food Bank is indeed “substantial,” but according to Deem this donation will be treated with the same reverence as all other support MAFB receives. “Across more than three decades, we have operated under the ethos of ensuring every donation and gift realizes the greatest possible impact,” explained Deem. “We don’t intend to change that approach as we consider out future.
“As a nonprofit we are required to be transparent. In fact, we have a site on our website ‘Documented Transparency,’ which has top salaries, inventories, 990s. So, it’s not that we’re being secretive. It’s more in deference to how we’re perceived. We’re still a nonprofit.
“While some of our long-range planning may be accessible in the near term,” added Deem. “We will take the time to reflect on how to ensure that these resources are put to the best use for the communities we serve.
MAFB Among 384 Organizations to Receive 'Substantial' Support
According to the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities; the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, previously food stamps) is an important public-private partnership that helps families afford a basic diet, generates business for retailers, and boosts local economies. SNAP accounts for about 8 percent of the food that U.S. families buy for their homes.
By increasing low-income households’ purchasing power so they can buy the food they need directly from stores, SNAP integrates economically marginalized households with almost no government administrative overhead resulting from food distribution. Because most households redeem their monthly SNAP benefits quickly and because the program helps struggling households purchase adequate food, SNAP is one of the most effective forms of economic stimulus during a downturn.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service, every dollar in new SNAP benefits spent when the economy is weak and unemployment elevated would increase the gross domestic product by $1.54. In 2009, the peak year of the Great Recession, $50 billion in SNAP benefits were spent in local stores, generating about $85 billion in local economic activity, even as the overall economy was struggling.
Judging from Ms. Scott’s statements within the announcement describing the process involved in identifying Tuesday’s 384 recipients, MAFB’s impact-driven ethos was likely a deciding factor, which lead to MAFB and Alabama’s good fortune.
“We looked at 6,490 organizations and undertook deeper research into 822,” Scott’s post explained. “We put 438 of these on hold for now due to insufficient evidence of impact, unproven management teams, or to allow for further inquiry about specific issues such as treatment of community members or employees.
“These 384 carefully selected teams have dedicated their lives to helping others, working and volunteering and serving real people face-to-face at bedsides and tables,in prisons and courtrooms and classrooms, on streets and hospital wards and hotlines and frontlines of all types and sizes, day after day after day.”