As President of Food & Friends’ Board of Directors, it is a privilege to share our 2023 Impact Report which you can find on our website by clicking here.
Your investment in our mission serves as a cornerstone of hope for thousands of individuals and families facing health challenges. You may not know that half of our operating budget is supported by philanthropy—generous gifts from you and others, while 30% comes from public funding (federal, state and local grants) and 20% is from fee for service partnership with managed care organizations. In addition to your generous contributions, I want to shine a light on the incredible impact of our 4,000 volunteers. These dedicated individuals selflessly give their time and energy to ensure that every meal reaches those in need.
Food & Friends plays a significant and measurable role in confronting health inequities in our region and improving the lives and health of individuals with life-challenging illnesses.
We have a saying that “anyone can get sick and everyone can help.” With more than 300 referral partners, these healthcare professionals depend on Food & Friends to help their patients who are nutritionally compromised and may struggle getting to the grocery store or standing at a stove to prepare meals.
For Mary Ellen Freeland, highlighted in the Impact Report, our home-delivered meals became a lifeline, providing nutritional support when she could not go out or cook while receiving treatment for Stage 3 esophageal cancer.
Margaret Patterson depended on our home-deliveries after she had to relinquish her driver’s license when her multiple sclerosis left her legally blind.
As a longtime communications professional, I look beyond the numbers. Each one of the more than 5,000 clients who received our medically tailored meals and groceries last year, is a whole person. Each one has a story like Mary Ellen and Margaret with a life before their illness, a life which now requires coping with conditions such as cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and various other ailments. I think about our clients balancing medical appointments, symptoms, treatment side effects, work, finances, and everyday tasks. I am so grateful that Food & Friends is there for them.
As you read our 2023 Impact Report, you will see that Food & Friends is a leader in this region and in the growing “food is medicine” movement.
In April, we became the first organization in the nation to become accredited by the Food Is Medicine Coalition in recognition of the high standards of our medically tailored meals. As more organizations, both for-profit and nonprofit, focus on food is medicine, we remain the only community-based organization preparing and home-delivering millions of medically tailored meals to individuals living with a serious or chronic illness in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Your continued support makes this possible.
During a year of high interest rates, inflation, and more competition for funding, the Board of Directors and I remain grateful for your shared belief and values of compassion and community, and your continued investment in our mission.
Thank you for partnering with us to help our clients manage their complex illnesses, ensuring they receive the nutrition they need to manage their conditions and ease the strain of meal preparation and grocery shopping.
As we embark on our 37th year of service and are approaching two historic milestones of 30 million meals and 50,000 clients served, we are also preparing for growth. We look forward to sharing these plans as they unfold and inviting your participation and support.
If you have any questions or feedback to share with me, please email me at Bthorne@foodandfriends.org.
With gratitude,
Bill Thorne
Board President, Food & Friends