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Become a Member Agency |
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Current Agencies |
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April 20, 2010
Annual Agency Meeting |
May 8th, 2010
NALC Stamp Out Hunger
Food Drive |
May 31, 2010
Memorial Day
Food Bank Closed |
July 5, 2010
Fourth of July Observed
Food Bank Closed |
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FOOD DRIVES
Many organizations, churches, schools,
businesses, and more choose to help the food
bank each year through organizing food
drives among their members. Oftentimes this
coincides with the holidays, but many times
it does not. After all, people are hungry
365 days a year, not just over the holidays.
More >>> |
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The mission of the United
Way Community Food Bank is to serve people
in need by securing and storing surplus food
and household items and distributing it
through local partnering service agencies. |
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To become a member of the
United Way Community Food Bank, your
organization must be: |
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• A recognized 501-c-3
organization by the IRS (and show proof of
such designation through a Letter of
Determination) or a church recognized as tax
exempt (churches will either have their own
501 (c)(3) Letter of Determination, or they
should be able to get a letter stating they
are in good standing from their parent
denomination’s state offices.
• Organization must agree to
provide food to the needy, ill, elderly, or
minors through their main food program free
of charge.
• Agencies must also show
proof of adequate storage facilities for the
type of program they are running. No
definite requirements for space and storage
are set, but are determined appropriate on a
case-by-case basis as all organizations have
different programs. |
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The first step in becoming a member agency
with the food bank is to “Download
a Request for an Application” (PDF). Fill out the
Request for an application and
send it in with a $25 application fee (no
cash, please), and we will then in turn mail
you out our application package. Your $25
application fee ultimately gets credited
towards your first order of food upon
approval and membership with the food bank.
Once the food bank has received back your
completed application packet, we will make
an appointment with you to come out to your
site and do a site monitor. At this time,
food bank staff will sit down with you to go
over the details of your program, and
examine your space and refrigeration to
determine if it is acceptable for storing
product. Please keep in mind the following:
• We have no set requirements for the
size of storage; however, it must be kept in
a locked area, climate controlled, and clean
and free of evidence of rodents and insects.
• Refrigerators and Freezers must be
clean and free of ice build-up
• You must show proof of some sort of
shelving or ability to keep food up off the
ground, whether it is traditional shelving
or the use of construction pallets to keep
food at least 2 inches off the ground.
The site visit is a time for food bank
staff to get to know potential new member
agencies, and also to verify that all
information provided in the application is
accurate. Upon completion of a site visit,
all new agencies are then presented at the
quarterly meetings to the Food Bank Board of
Directors for ultimate approval. |
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Things to keep in mind:
The Food Bank has a shared maintenance
fee of .13/pound for our member agencies
(this translates to about $110 for
approximately 1,000 pounds of food.
All member agencies are monitored every two
years by food bank staff to ensure
compliance. In addition, if your agency
chooses to receive USDA Commodity food, it
is also possible you will be selected for an
official state audit of your food program. |
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We have no set requirements when it comes to
how often you pick up orders from the food
bank. However, our smallest allowable order
is approximately 1,000—1,500 pounds of food.
Keep this in mind when planning your
program. Please note while we do not have
any requirements for how often you pick up,
you do have to schedule your pickup
appointments in advance with Warehouse
staff. Member agencies place order on a
pounds basis. Therefore, an agency may place
an order, for example, of 5,000 pounds of
food. This food is then pulled by our
Warehouse staff on an equal distribution
based on what our warehouse has in stock at
that time. In other words, our food bank
does not allow “shopping” through the
warehouse to pick and choose food orders.
You will be required to submit monthly
reports to the food bank breaking down the
number of people you served by gender and
age. These reports are due by the 20th of
each month, and are mailed along with your
monthly statements, or may be downloaded
from this site. |
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Download a Monthly Report Form (PDF)
or Fill out an Online
Form |
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United Way
Community Food Bank, Inc.
107 Walter Davis Drive
Birmingham, AL 35209
Phone: 205-942-8911
Fax: 205-942-8838
Map to the Food Bank |
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