Recipient Organization
GODS PANTRY FOOD BANK INC
2201 INNOVATION DR
LEXINGTON,KY 40511
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
God's Pantry Food Bank is renovating a new distribution center to further close the gap that exists between the food available and the food that makes it to the tables of neighbors throughout Central and Eastern Kentucky. A key addition to this facility is a production kitchen, a space where ingredients gathered throughout the Commonwealth can be transformed into nourishing meals by local workforce trainees and culinary professionals and ultimately distributed across our region.This space will serve as a multi-pronged, comprehensive approach to a more food secure community by providing:1. Increased nutrient dense food offerings and prepared meals for neighbors throughout the region.2. Expanded ability to purchase, process, and preserve local, Kentucky-grown products.3. Potential for workforce development and culinary training programs.4. Reduced waste with the conversion of fresh food with limited shelf lives into frozen meal options.These investments will have a profound impact across the region; meals created in this production kitchen will make it to every county in the food bank's service area, boosting nutrition and food access for thousands of families, children, and seniors.
Animal Health Component
70%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
10%
Applied
70%
Developmental
20%
Goals / Objectives
Goal 1. Increase pounds distributed through our regional distribution centers, partner agencies and programs. Objective 1a. Increase prepared meal distribution by 25% from baseline for neighbors in the 50 counties of Central and Eastern Kentucky supported by GPFB by the end of the grant period (September 30, 2027). Objective 1b. Maintain waste of less than 1% per year throughout end of September 2027.Goal 2. Cultivate and implement new food sourcing and distribution opportunities to enhance our breadth and depth of foods distributed. Objective 2a. Increase local Kentucky farm purchased by 25% by end FY27. Objective 2b. Increase pounds of Kentucky farm products donated by 5% by end Sep 2027. Objective 2c. Increase pounds of processed fruits and vegetables at start of project to 250,000 pounds per year by end Sep 2027.Goal 3. Foster a positive and efficient environment that attracts, develops, and retains talent. Objective 3a. No less than 20 individuals per year complete culinary skills workforce course by Sep 30, 2027.
Project Methods
The following efforts are planned:Task 1: Hire Culinary Director. Culinary Director determines additional staffing needs but will likely include culinary staff team members.Task 2: Kitchen Design & Installation. Finalize drawings and layout, choose vendors using RFP process, work with selected vendors to buy and install equipment, receive necessary permits and inspection.Task 3: Culinary Program Design. Complete additional research, create curriculum, connect with local workforce partners, apply to necessary workforce programs.Task 4: Culinary Program Implementation. Recruit participants, begin training cohort 1, complete pre- and post-evaluation surveys on participants, apply feedback to additional cohorts, continue additional cohortsTask 5: Plan Menus. Plan the procedure and menus. Procure food, containers, labels, and any additional supplies needed. Receive feedback on current menus utilizing participant surveys. Food is recorded by category & weight in Ceres. Work with Kentucky farmers to determine product availability.Task 6: Produce Meals & IQF Bagged Products. Make, label, and store meals and bagged IQF products.Task 7: Distribute Meals & IQF Products. Use Ceres to track products created and distributed. Ensure products are distributed across a range of sites throughout the service area.Task 8: Survey Participants. Establish survey mechanism and survey questions and apply feedback to current process. Task 9: Fundraising. Seek additional opportunities for program implementation and growth to ensure sustainability.The project will necessitate evaluation in a variety of ways, but much of the data will be built-in to current systems. We currently complete monthly reconciliation of all inventory through Ceres, our in-house inventory software. This gives total poundage received and distributed by the Food Bank and can drill down to product categories such as fresh fruits and vegetables. We can also determine waste percentage from Ceres, along with the number of local vendors. Staff trained in inventory can pull these records monthly.Feedback from participants in similar meal programs has proven successful with the addition of a QR code on the label of the meal that links to an online survey in combination with in-person surveys. We will adapt surveys and questionnaires from other food banks for our use. Both methods are necessary because although many participants in our programs do have smart phone technology, we also have many rural areas that do not have reliable internet access. Completing in-person surveys or interviews at least quarterly will be important to receive the full scope of participant feedback. Our Marketing and Communications Team has already been successful in their story collection, and they will be an integral part of these evaluation pieces as well.We also want to engage with workforce development participants as our program is developed and evolves. This may involve interviews or focus groups with potential participants or participants that have already been through similar programs, as well as feedback from the initial cohorts of participants. The program will need to evolve to meet the needs of participants and the workforce partners that will be employing graduates from any training program.