Many Hands Make Light Work

Mike, Jordie, Nick and I were part of a group who spent our Saturday morning volunteering at Kansas City’s community food bank; Harvesters.



In just 4 hours, we shattered the old record, which was 6 tons of food moved and boxed up, ready for distribution to one of the 550+ agencies in Harvesters’ networks. Our group moved... drum roll please... 16 1/2 TONS of food. 66 THOUSAND people in Kansas City rely on Harvesters each week for food assistance. The fastest growing population of need? Suburbia. Our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers need our help.


The urban areas have historically had the most need and those numbers remain relatively stable. Suburbia is now relying more heavily on Harvesters resources than ever before. We are collectively, a people of means with generous spirits. My intent with this post is to nudge you toward action by sharing the awareness that I myself did not fully have before spending a few hours with this organization.


We all see the little white tear-off coupons in increments of $1, $5 and $10 sitting right at the checkout line of our favorite grocery stores. Most of us, my guess is… utilize them from time to time, particularly during the holiday season. Where does the money go and how much of it goes to actually funding the cause and not covering administration costs is often in the back of our mind. Not only did I find out the answer to this question, but was literally bowled over by learning how well this fine-tuned non-profit machine is run overall.


Less than 3% of Harvesters' resources are used for administration and fundraising--well below the industry standard. In the non-profit world, 84% of each dollar going directly to fund its cause is considered a well run operation. With Harvesters, 97 cents of each dollar you donate at your local grocery stores by way of that little tear-off coupon goes directly to feed the hungry. That to me is incredible, especially when you factor in community needs going up, costs continuing to rise and the ability for individuals, corporations, faith-based communities, foundations, social service organizations, and state and federal grants to raise donations is becoming more and more challenging as this economy continues to struggle.


Together we can make a difference; work smarter, not harder. Choose to help fund organizations with impressive (high) program ratio’s and/or demand the same skills from the management of the organizations that are there to guide your favorite causes forward.


And never underestimate the value of your time; it is as valuable a commodity as your money is to these folks. Thousands of corporations, congregations, civic groups and individuals contributed more than 107,000 volunteer hours in fiscal year 2009. That's the equivalent of approximately 52 full-time staff members. Harvesters will be the first to tell you they could not come close to achieving the sort of success they have without our man-hours.


Hunger in our country is unacceptable. It is unacceptable anywhere. We are lucky to have Harvesters in our community taking care of our own. Let’s take care of Harvesters in return.


Note: I know non-profits are made up of diverse organizations and we cannot compare apples to oranges. A food bank has fewer costs than say a museum that has to hire staff and security and insurance. An 84% program ratio might indeed be a good number for a museum, but would be an unobtainable goal for a social services non-profit. I get that. My only point here is that Harvesters… when compared to other non-profits in their industry… is the Gold Medal Standard. Tear off that $1, $5, or $10 coupon next time you’re feeding your own family and you can rest assured that your money is getting to those in need by way of their own kitchen table.