Purchase Food
We purchase food at discounted prices which are below retail prices. At the NH Food Bank a maintenance fee of .18 per pound is charged on most of their food. This is considerably less than paying retail prices. But even the NH Food Bank does not always have the items we need. So, we need funds to seek out food from other sources as well.
Operating Expenses
Like all businesses, we have operating expenses such as supplies, phone service, insurance that need to be paid. Funds are also used for payroll expenses. Susan devotes 40 – 50 hours per week to the operating of the pantry. Their duties include (but not inclusive to) record keeping and generating reports to various agencies, bookkeeping, inventory, procuring food and items to hand out, locating and applying for grants, handing out food four days per week, receiving donations, overseeing volunteers in the logging and processing of received donations, etc. She is only paid for 40 hours. Any time spent after that is considered volunteer time. We currently rely solely on funds from individuals and local businesses to assist us in covering these expenses.
Fundraising
Receiving funds allow us to create fundraising opportunities.