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HIGHLIGHTS OF FINDINGS
Click here for the full version of the study.
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This report presents information on the clients and agencies served by The Food Bank of Lincoln,
Inc. The information is drawn from a national study, Hunger in America 2010, conducted in
2009 for Feeding America (FA) (formerly America’s Second Harvest), the nation’s largest
organization of emergency food providers. The national study is based on completed in-person
interviews with more than 62,000 clients served by the FA national network, as well as on completed
questionnaires from more than 37,000 FA agencies. The study summarized below focuses on
emergency food providers and their clients who are supplied with food by food banks in the FA
network. Emergency food programs are defined to include food pantries, soup kitchens, and
emergency shelters serving short-term residents. It should be recognized that many other
types of providers served by food banks are, for the most part, not described in this study,
including such programs as Congregate Meals for seniors, day care facilities, and after school programs.
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Key findings are summarized below:
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HOW MANY CLIENTS RECEIVE EMERGENCY FOOD FROM THE FOOD BANK OF LINCOLN, INC?
- The FA system served by The Food Bank of Lincoln, Inc provides emergency food for an estimated 33,800 different people annually.
- About 8,100 different people receive emergency food assistance in any given week.
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WHO RECEIVES EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE?
FA agencies served by The Food Bank of Lincoln, Inc provide food for a broad cross-section of households. Key characteristics include:
- 36% of the members of households served by The Food Bank of Lincoln, Inc are children under 18 years old.
- 13% of the members of households are children age 0 to 5 years.
- 9% of the members of households are elderly.
- About 62% of clients are non-Hispanic white, 17% are non-Hispanic black, 12% are Hispanic, and the rest are from other racial groups.
- 30% of households include at least one employed adult .
- 77% have incomes below the federal poverty level during the previous month.
- 22% are homeless.
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MANY CLIENTS ARE FOOD INSECURE WITH LOW OR VERY LOW FOOD SECURITY
- Among all client households served by emergency food programs of The Food Bank of Lincoln, Inc, 79% are food insecure,
according to the U.S. government’s official food security scale. This includes client households who have low food
security and those who have very low food security.
- 43% of the clients have very low food security.
- Among households with children, 79% are food insecure and 38% are food insecure with very low food security.
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MANY CLIENTS REPORT HAVING TO CHOOSE BETWEEN FOOD AND OTHER NECESSITIES
- 44% of clients served by The Food Bank of Lincoln, Inc report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel.
- 41% had to choose between paying for food and paying their rent or mortgage.
- 35% had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care.
- 40% had to choose between paying for food and paying for transportation.
- 35% had to choose between paying for food and paying for gas for a car.
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DO CLIENTS ALSO RECEIVE FOOD ASSISTANCE FROM THE GOVERNMENT?
- 50% of client households served by The Food Bank of Lincoln, Inc are receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (Table 7.1.1); however, it is likely that many more are eligible.
- Among households with children ages 0-3 years, 40% participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
- Among households with school-age children, 50% and 41%, respectively, participate in the federal school lunch and school breakfast programs.
- Among households with school-age children, 18% participate in the summer food program.
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MANY CLIENTS ARE IN POOR HEALTH
- 27% of households served by The Food Bank of Lincoln, Inc report having at least one household member in poor health.
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MOST CLIENTS ARE SATISFIED WITH THE SERVICES THEY RECEIVE FROM THE AGENCIES OF THE FOOD BANK OF LINCOLN, INC
- 93% of adult clients said they were either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the amount of food they received from their provider; 93% were satisfied with the quality of the food they received.
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HOW LARGE IS THE FOOD BANK OF LINCOLN, INC?
- The Food Bank of Lincoln, Inc included approximately 86 agencies at the administration of this survey, of which 86 have responded to the agency survey. Of the responding agencies, 68 had at least one food pantry, soup kitchen, or shelter.
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WHAT KINDS OF ORGANIZATIONS OPERATE EMERGENCY FOOD PROGRAMS OF THE FOOD BANK OF LINCOLN, INC?
- 49% of pantries, 31% of kitchens, and 22% of shelters are run by faith-based agencies affiliated with churches, mosques, synagogues, and other religious organizations.
- At the agency level, 47% of agencies with at least one pantry, kitchen, or shelter and 41% of all agencies including those with other types of programs are faith-based.
- Private nonprofit organizations with no religious affiliation make up a large share of other types of agencies.
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HAVE AGENCIES WITH EMERGENCY FOOD PROVIDERS REPORTED CHANGES IN THE NUMBER OF CLIENTS SEEKING SERVICES?
- Among programs that existed in 2006, 88% of pantries, 88% of kitchens, and 50% of shelters of The Food Bank of Lincoln, Inc reported that there had been an increase since 2006 in the number of clients who come to their emergency food program sites.
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WHERE DO AGENCIES WITH EMERGENCY FOOD PROVIDERS OBTAIN THEIR FOOD?
- Food banks are by far the single most important source of food for agencies with emergency food providers, accounting for 66% of the food distributed by pantries, 57% of the food distributed by kitchens, and 8% of the food distributed by shelters.
- Other important sources of food include religious organizations, government, and direct purchases from wholesalers and retailers.
- 26% of pantries, 0% of kitchens, and 12% of shelters receive food from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).
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VOLUNTEERS ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT IN THE FA NETWORK
- As many as 90% of pantries, 82% of kitchens, and 33% of shelters in The Food Bank of Lincoln, Inc use volunteers.
- Many programs rely entirely on volunteers; 43% of pantry programs and 20% of kitchens have no paid staff at all.
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