WILLIAMSPORT, PA – The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank recently received a grant of $50,000 from the Williamsport Lycoming Community Fund at the First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania to support its 2021-22 Strategic Planning process.
“A solid strategic plan is a best practice for any non-profit organization,” said Joe Arthur, executive director of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. “To know if we are making progress toward a future without hunger in central PA, we must define and measure the collective impact of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and its partners. Through this generous grant from the First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania, we will be able to better gather feedback and listen to those most impacted by our work and address hunger collaboratively and strategically through our entire network in the years ahead.”
The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank’s “Bold Goal” Strategic Plan states: “By 2025, our collaborative network will provide access to enough nutritious food for everyone struggling with hunger in each of the 27 counties we serve, and we will convene and nurture partnerships to make progress toward ending hunger.”
Six years into its Bold Goal Journey, the Food Bank and its partners have made significant progress toward ensuring that everyone in their communities has access to healthy food. Unfortunately, with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges throughout the charitable food network increased as food insecurity rates skyrocketed and food sourcing channels constricted. The Strategic Plan Refresh funded by this grant will build the capacity of the Food Bank and its network to meet its Bold Goal while recognizing and addressing the newly emerged needs in our community. Hunger is a multi-faceted issue and addressing it requires the entire community to work together both with and for those in need. The Strategic Plan Refresh will redirect the focus on the larger charitable food network to use its collective resources more efficiently.
The Food Bank is currently working with its Board of Directors on the Strategic Plan Refresh, with hopes of completing it in early 2022.
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About Central Pennsylvania Food Bank
The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to reduce hunger in 27 counties across Pennsylvania. By working with more than 1,200 local agencies and partner programs, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank serves 152,000 people in need every month. For more information on the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and its mission to reduce hunger in Pennsylvania, visit centralpafoodbank.org or call 717-564-1700.