Extension Leads Strategic Planning Process for the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana
On December 19, 2014, the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana Board of Directors adopted a plan to increase the number of meals distributed by two million meals by 2018. This will alleviate the hunger gap in the region by 12 percent. The plan includes:
- A capital campaign for a new $3,500,000 facility;
- Fundraising projections for a $1,000,000 increase in revenue by 2018; and
- Operations targets, including eight new projected FTE jobs created.
Kris Parker, Purdue Extension Community Development Regional Educator and long-time board member of the Food Bank, led the year-long strategic planning process. While the Board of Directors had used private consultants to facilitate strategic planning in the past, they were not convinced that it was the wisest use of funds under current circumstances. They knew that they wanted to focus on core functions of food banking and a capital campaign for a larger facility. They turned to Kris as someone with both facilitation expertise as well as an insider’s perspective on the operations of food banking and understanding of the local community.
