¶ … Food Reserve Non-Profit Organization Feasibility Study Analysis

Food Reserve is a non-profit food bank service organization that will provide grocery items to assist residents of Cincinnati, Ohio. Food Reserve has the goal is end hunger in Cincinnati by seeking, gathering, growing, and putting together food packages that will be distributed using a network of similar service organizations, and programs that offer aid to targeted populations in need. The services offered by Food Reserve are boxes of groceries, emergency services, and a youth ranch which will be run by at risk youth to grow garden foods for local residents, restaurants, and markets. Food Reserve will be supported through the counties, corporations, and other charities such as community churches (Hofstrand, and Holz-Clause, 2012).

There are about 25% of Cincinnati residents that are qualified to receive from Food Reserve. The profile of clients are lower income families or members of society that are facing an emergency food situationn (Census.gov, 2011). Children make up 50% of those served in the program. Though these families are employed, there is not adequate food after handling other necessities such as shelter, transportation and child care. Food Reserve will also maintain a warehouse for storing foods that are donated. The organization will pursue the various local and state farms for surplus food stores along with retailers and food processing plants (Hofstrand (2), 2012). Local restaurants will also be solicited to participate in supplying Food Reserve, especially in the area of emergency supplies. It is forecasted that the need will increase over the next three to five years. This data is provided by BLS as the city of Cincinnati is experiencing growth as new families come into the city, some will require temporary services until finding employment (Census.gov, 2011). Though there are charitable and state resources for the programs. They require some time to activate or some may not qualify due to other sources of income such as pensions. This is where Food Reserve can step in to supplement food needs until these programs can be accessible to the residents. Allowing these families to have access to food rather than skipping meals due to inadequate services.

The services of Food Reserve will also help families to take proper care of their growing children so they can focus on getting an education rather than their hungry bellies. Food Reserve is ready to invest in reducing hunger in the city and lower the number of crimes committed in this area due to desperation in taking care of basic life needs (Census.gov, 2011). The number of sicknesses related to eating unhealthy foods or lack of food will also be deterred with the assistance of Food Reserve.

Food Reserve will be a distribution center that collects foods from surrounding suppliers, making it a single point of aid for the entire metropolitan area. The ongoing service provided is mainly emergency aid of a week or more's supply of groceries. Each family or person receiving aid, can return for services a total of 20 times each year. The boxes will contain 5-7 days of food. The food supplied will be fresh and contain meats, fruits, grains, dairy, beans, and nuts. Foods that are collected and can be stored for a time, will be moved to the warehouse for storage until needed. These foods will then be shipped to local orphanages or foster care homes and youth service agencies (Hofstrand, and Holz-Clause, 2012)..

Reviewing the purpose of Food Reserve

• Create a network of donors who work together to collect and provide food to lower income residents.

• Open a youth ranch that will provide jobs to at risk young people who have juvenile delinquency a record (Hofstrand (2), 2012).

• Distribute food to the 25% of need families in the Cincinnati area (Cincinatti-oh.gov, 2011).

• Solicit a total of $21,000 to generate start up capital with the aid of charitable organizations, corporate support, and state financial grant funding.

• In addition conduct fundraising programs to generate $150,000.

Market Analysis

During Market Analysis it was discovered that 25% of Cincinnati families that will qualify for food assistance each year, there is about 5% of senior citizens in need. These families were supplied by their adult children or government programs (Cincinatti-oh.gov, 2011). The families needing these services may not qualify for enough food assistance as some have other income and cannot receive enough state or federal aid. The earnings are usually from retirement pensions or investment income. Some of the senior adults may also work but they have lower income jobs. Usually senior adults have to pay for some of their medications or medical care which can tap out their monthly income. In addition it was found that many adults without family or who have a slightly higher...

There are about 162,500 people that are targeted to receive food aid (Cincinatti-oh.gov, 2011). The segments of this subset of the population can be broken down into about three different groups.
Target Groups for Food Reserve Sources (Choosecincy.Demographics, 2012).

Senior Adults 40,650

Adults 40,600

Children 81,250

The main focus of these groups will be the children and their families. However all target groups will receive Food Reserve services. The number of incoming children over the next 3-5 years is projected at another 15-20% at this point the percentage being served will increase to 60% (Cincinatti-oh.gov, 2011). The highest percentage of the client base. It is hoped that Food Reserve will be able to eliminate hunger in the Cincinnati area and its debilitating affects on the physical and mental well being of the youngest citizens. This will relieve the strain on families as they seek employment knowing their children will not go hungry.

4.1 Market Segmentation

Viability Profile

Analysis of Psychographics (Hofstrand, and Holz-Clause, 2012)

The average makeup of families for this program are:

One adult parent or guardian that is working full time in a lower income position.

Number of family members including parents or guardians is five. With single parent or head of household the number of children can range from three to four.

These families have applied for state aid within the last year to get assistance and either do not qualify or are not receiving enough aid to cover the entire month.

Economic Viability of Food Reserve Services

Food Reserve has researched a number of food distribution methods however the one that will be most successful and efficient is by networking with existing programs designed to help the communities (Choosecincy.Economics, 2012). They are already located within the communities needing the most help. Many of the residents are already familiar with the location of the social service agencies. At the moment there are about 20 agencies already working in the communities providing clothing, shelter, education, latchkey, child care (adult or children), and medical services. The target the lower income population and have relationships with residents (Thompson, 2005). Food Reserve does not wish to take the place of these agencies but work with and through them to reach those in need. has established that the most effective method to distribute food is through the network of existing social service programs and agencies serving the target population groups (Thompson, 2005). The target groups are similar to those of Food Reserve. Main populations being children, senior and adults with lower income. These populations are already going to the local community agencies for other services and Food Reserve packages can easily be added. Many visit the community agencies on a weekly basis which is an opportune time to provide a food package. These existing agencies also have a number of volunteers who frequently come out to help with other services. They can be mobilized to aid Food Reserve distribute food packages.

Target Market Segment Strategy

Further study of the main segment children is age range of birth to about 16 years of age along with their families. This segment make up the largest portion of the population needing aid. Food is vital to the normal development of children especially from birth through age five. Food Reserve must reach the young people and help them at a have a healthy future.

Operation Strategy

Food Reserve's first stage of operation is establishing a strong collection of localized farmers, grocers and food processing companies.

The second focus is to create a youth ranch to help provide constructive jobs for at risk youth.

The third stage involves a fundraising campaign that will tap retailers, bankers, and private investors to raise monies for initial setup and advertising.

Next Food Reserve plans to advertise to the targeted groups through the 20 local social service agencies within the communities daily. Resources include flyers, and presentations.

Economic Funding Possibilities

Food Reserve expects its monthly revenue to change based on the calendar seasons (Hofstrand, and Holz-Clause, 2012).. The Fall season will be the time when major fundraising will take place. While the summer time is not expected to bring in much revenue. Some of the programs under consideration for collecting food are:

Basic Food Collections (FC)

Participates will be retailing, wholesale, and food processing companies that donate food items. They will be monthly contributors of donations from…