from the ceo Dear Friends, The 2022 Impact Report provides an opportunity to look back on our rich history, celebrate the present, and look forward to future opportunities. This year represents our 40th year of service. What started as a grassroots effort of dedicated individuals working out of the Central Warehouse has grown to a robust operation employing over 100 people in a large distribution center in Latham and a satellite facility in the Hudson Valley. In 1982 we may have thought that hunger was a temporary challenge. We now know that is a pervasive problem in our community that requires our efforts, attention and resources. 2022 represents an amazing year of service to our hungry neighbors. Despite serious disruptions in the supply chain, our staff managed to acquire and distribute over 45M pounds of nutritious food - nearly 38M meals. These meals were provided to seniors, children, families and adults, most of whom are working one or two jobs to provide for their families. We could not do our work without our strong network of partners. Most of our products are donated by manufacturers, retailers, and farmers who generously give from their excess. This food is inspected, sorted, boxed and inventoried by 18,000 volunteers! Our food is distributed with the help of over 850 distribution partners including food pantries, soup kitchens, schools, and shelters. We are grateful for the efforts and teamwork of all of these groups and celebrate our partnership. Looking forward, we anticipate continued challenges with the economy sending more hungry people to our doors. We have just completed a strategic plan committing our resources and efforts to equitably distributing sufficient food throughout our area. We are committed to sourcing enough product to address the unmet need. We are committed to providing nutritious and culturally relevant food. We are committed to investing in our staff, our infrastructure and our fleet. We are committed to reducing waste in the food system. We are also counting on you, our supporters, to continue to help us meet our mission. Thank you for helping us for 40 years. We look forward to working with you to alleviate hunger and help our neighbors thrive. Sincerely, Molly Nicol Chief Executive Officer from the director of the food bank of the hudson valley Dear Friends, John van Hengel, a retired businessman, volunteered at a soup kitchen trying to find food to serve our neighbors facing hunger. One day, he met a desperate mother who regularly rummaged through grocery store garbage bins to find food for her children. She suggested that there should be a place where food could be stored for people to pick up rather than being thrown away —similar to how “banks” store money for future use. With that, an industry was born. Mr. van Hengel established St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix as the nation’s first food bank. Word of the food bank’s success quickly spread, and states began to note. Today, there are 200 food banks in Feeding America, the national food bank network. As Director of the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, I frequently speak to our donors. Today, while chatting with a man who made a sizeable donation, he shared with me why he is so determined to make sure as many people as possible have food to eat. When he was 16 years old in the 1960s, he was sleeping on a park bench while still going to high school. Yet even though he slept there in the middle of winter, he said lack of food was his major problem. Back then, there were no resources where he could access food. He persevered, working his way through high school and college, and became quite successful. He gives to the Food Bank that serves the area where that park bench once stood. We are excited to have broken ground on the new 40,000 square foot distribution center in Montgomery, NY replacing our current location in Cornwallon-Hudson that we outgrew back in 2016. Because of people like John van Hengel, that visionary mother, our generous donors, and each of you, we are working towards the day when everyone has access to the nutritious food they need to thrive. All our work could not be possible without you, and we thank you again for your outstanding generosity that sustains it. Gratefully, Sara Gunn Director, Food Bank of the Hudson Valley
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