2012 Timeline

2012 was one of our busiest and most productive years at our Food Bank, Garden, and Thrift Stores!

The average number of families us-ing our Food Bank per month climbed to 877 households – a new record. Our amazing volunteers rose to the

challenge – serving in the Food Bank,

Continued on back page

Meeting increased community needs through partnerships, fine-tuning programs and planning

A banner year for Good Cheer...

2012 Annual Report

We celebrated our 50th anniversary all year long.

Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores

Good Cheer Food Bank had a record 17,593 visits in 2012

-- once again handled 99% of the time by VOLUNTEERS.

Item Distribution Center, several gar-dens, and our Thrift Stores. They were a welcoming smile and helpful hands for a record 17,593 client visits to Good Cheer Food Bank.

Last year we reinstated the Volunteer Coordinator position and hired Duane Gimbel who hit the ground running. In his first 100 days in the position, he signed up 100 new volunteers.

A theme of celebration ran through-out 2012 as we looked back on 50 years of helping our beloved South Whidbey community.

The highlight of the anniverary year was when South Whidbey As-sembly of God Church hosted a vol-unteer and staff appreciation dinner.

Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson and State Representa-tive Norma Smith presented the Good Cheer Team with a “Labor of Love” plaque.

The fact that South Whidbey’s old-est nonprofit has survived and thrived is not only the result of hard work and community support, but also because of a willingness to constantly improve our operations and seize new opportu-nities to carry out our mission.

The latter was especially true as our Clinton Thrift Store and The Rack moved into a larger space in the Ken’s Korner Shopping Plaza.

This move resulted in the highest

Food Bank Coordinator, Karen Korbelik, contin-ued cooking delicious soups for clients. She is a firm believer in Good Cheer’s ‘zero waste’ goal. Whatever produce that is beyond use goes into compost bins for the garden or used for livestock feed.

More than 140 people en-joyed music, square dancing, and good eating April 21 to raise funds for “Fresh Food on the Table” -- a partnership program with the Whidbey Institute, Greenbank Farm, South Whidbey School District, and South Whidbey Commons.

Annie Jesperson of Deep Harvest Farm in Greenbank with a barrow full of winter veggies for the Food Bank.

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Good Cheer volunteers enjoyed an August BBQ in the Good Cheer Garden.

Sales revenues accounted for 68% of our opera-tional funding. At $709,988 – they reached a new high in the history of Good Cheer Thrift Stores, and were an increase of $32,732 over 2011.

The recently relocated Clinton Good Cheer Thrift Store had the highest ever daily sales total during its grand opening in November: $2,736 for one day.

Remember, when you shop at Good Cheer Thrift Stores, you are shopping to feed local families.

Our Food Bank served 738 more people than in 2011

Thrift Store Sales Up 4.6%

Good Cheer had three apprentices in its Community Garden Leadership Program. They worked at the Food Bank and three garden sites in the community on behalf of Good Cheer and partner nonprofits.

56%Adults

(19 - 54)

29%Children

(Infants - 18)

15%Seniors(55+)

Thrift Store Revenues for Last 10 Years

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

2012Langley Revenues .............. $358,762Clinton Store Revenues ..... $351,224Ebay Revenues ....................... $3,971Wholesale Revenues ................. $398TOTAL SALES: $709,988

$709,988

Item Donations Remain Steady

The number of item drop-off donations (for the Thrift Stores) held just about steady in 2012 with 14,500 donations, down just slightly from 2011.

A new curbside pickup program was begin in late 2012 and holds promise for increased donations for 2013.

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012(Above numbers include 261 homeless individuals.)

Average # of Families Helped Per Month

877 Families

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Good Cheer was a pres-ence at the Maxwelton 4th of July Parade... and at the Whidbey Island Fair and Parade.

Our numbers are in line withthe national norms.A sluggish economyand high unemployment continue to take their toll. The Food Bank served 4,088 people last year, with an average of 877families helped per month.1,157 Children2,326 Adults 605 Seniors (55+)

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Record Monetary Donations

In-Kind Food Donations ClimbFood donations increased 31,382 lbs. above the previous year’s total to 373,535 lbs., and accounted for half of the 650,219 pounds of food distributed in 2012.

These food donations add variety to food items that Good Cheer purchases in bulk. Sometimes they include specialty foods such as gluten-free, low-sodium, or low-glycemic foods. One donor, after reading about a need in our news-letter, is even stocking a liquid nutrition supplement for a client with a feeding tube. In addition, local businesses are contributing to the Milk Fund to help ensure an adequate supply of fresh milk.

Making veggie-people figures at Good Cheer’s booth during Children’s Day.

Volunteer Hours Remain HighOur volunteer hours increased slightly over last year and were the second highest on record.

If paid (using Northwest Har-vest’s nonprofit formula of $20.85 an hour), this equates to $641,283 –– the equiva-lent of about 20 FTEs!

Not a volunteer yet? Come join us!

Volunteer Hours Over the Past 10 Years

30,757 hours

Ten-Year Growth in Pounds of Donated Food

373,535 pounds

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Ten-Year Growth in Community Food Bank Monetary Donations

$332,412

Monetary donations were at an all-time high of $332,412 -- our best year ever!

Your support allowed us to help the ad-ditional 738 people who turned to us last year. The fastest growing client seg-ments were seniors and children.

We are also grateful for the many fundrais-er partnerships for business-sponsored events and merchandise such as special label wine (right), coffee and chocolates. 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Garden expert Ed Hume was the featured guest speaker at this year’s Harvest Party and MusicFest.

Rita Burns, manager of Clinton’s Good Cheer Two Thrift Store and The Rack, loves the spaciousness of the new location at Ken’s Korner. Sales are up, up, up!

The 2012 Child’s Chance to Give event enabled 56 children of Food Bank clients to buy gifts for their parents and caretakers and experience the joy of giving.

single day sales total in our history, and the forecast is promising for an ever-increasing volume of sales due to increased customer traffic at the new location.

Fresh Food on The Table

The Fresh Food On The Table program was launched in 2012 and has been very successful. This com-munity-funded program is designed to provide quality, fresh garden pro-duce year ‘round to the Food Bank, while also providing community garden leadership apprentice pro-grams, and school garden programs and curriculum.

Three apprentices managed three gardens as part of a shared arrange-ment with Whidbey Institute, the Ag Farm Training Program at Green-bank Farm, the South Whidbey School District, and the South Whid-bey Commons.

More than 6,500 lbs. of produce was harvested from three gardens now growing produce for the Food Bank: the Good Cheer Garden, Lang-ley Middle School, and the Whidbey Institute Westgarden.

fine-tune practices and policies for maximum efficiency and economy while upholding client dignity and the compassionate, friendly service that Good Cheer is known for.

One of the best (but perhaps quiet-est) achievements in 2012 was the de-velopment of a Disaster/Emergency Plan for all our sites. Many thanks to Lou Donaty for leading this effort.

Looking ahead, former Board President Jay Ryan (below), will vol-unteer his time to develop a Planned Giving Program for wills, stock trans-fers, and property donations.

Our Community Outreach Coordi-nator, Shawn Nowlin, will additionally focus on Development and Donor Relations in 2013.

As we live out the highest goals of community service, I believe that the best days for Good Cheer are yet ahead!

With a most grateful heart,

A sit-down Appreciation Dinner for volunteers and staff was held by the congregation of South Whidbey Assembly of God Church. At the dinner, Commissioner Helen Price Johnson and State Representative Norma Smith presented the Good Cheer Team with a “Labor of Love” plaque.

Making iT sTreTch FurTher

As a result of increased food donations, more garden produce, fine-tuning food purchases, plus an expanded food donation pick-up pro-gram (we now pick up donated food from several north end groceries each Sunday), we were able to serve more clients with just about the same food budget as the year before.

sTrengThening ParTnershiPs

We greatly appreciate the many fund- and friend-raisers held on our behalf by local businesses. Whidbey Island Bank, for example, led a matching fund effort that raised $22,969 to reestablish the “Milk Money Program” so that families would be able to have milk in their households.

Other partners held special events or packaged special mer-chandise (coffee, fudge and wine) which were sold to raise funds for the Food Bank.

Fine-Tuning our PrograM

As stewards of our community’s goodwill and support, we strive to

Kathy McLaughlin McCabeGood Cheer Executive Director