Financial Transparency and Pantry Impact
As a grassroots food security initiative, we believe community members should be able to see how pantry resources are used and what they make possible. The table below shows the financial data tied to each pantry distribution since we have been in operation, as well as other measures of efficiency and community benefit.
How these figures are calculated
- 1 meal = 1.2 lb of food.
- Purchased pounds are food procured minus food donated in.
- Cash spend is the month's food spending excluding gift card purchases, and cash budget is the food budget excluding them. Gift cards buy no pounds that we weigh, so including those dollars raised the cost per pound in any month that used them.
- Actual unit cost is cash spend divided by purchased pounds.
- Avg food per household is food distributed divided by households served.
- Meals delivered per $1 is meals divided by food spend.
- Donated share is reported from our own inventory records rather than calculated from the pounds above. It measures donations against the food procured within that month, while food procured here also counts what carried over from the month before.
- Food procured is everything the pantry acquired, purchased and donated together.
- Food distributed is what neighbors took home.
- Unit costs are based on food procured. Per-household figures are based on food distributed.
*Planned unit cost is retrospective: historical records did not include a budgeted purchased-pounds target, so the formula divides the month's cash budget by actual purchased pounds.
*Food value per household values distributed food at the pantry's paid acquisition cost per purchased pound. It uses total food spend, not cash spend, so it reflects everything the food line delivered. It is a transparent resource-value proxy, not retail market value.
Looking for the story behind the numbers? Read our quarterly impact reports.
About this data Figures are based on Good Neighbor Services Inc internal purchasing, inventory, and client service records. Some historical figures from the pantry's pilot period rely on estimates or legacy tracking methods which may be revised as records are reconciled. These figures have not been independently audited.