Feeding the hungry benefits us all.
Nonprofits typically aren’t viewed as significant stakeholders in local economies. Take Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, whose mission is to combat food insecurity. While this act of altruism directly impacts thousands of people, we would have been hard-pressed to assign a dollar figure to the economic and social benefits of feeding the hungry.
That is until Second Harvest partnered with Rollins College’s Crummer Graduate School of Business to conduct the first major study quantifying the effect of hunger relief on the Central Florida economy. Undertaken by Dr. Yoho and a team of six MBA students, the study calculated Second Harvest’s total economic impact at $187 million for fiscal 2015-16.
In determining that number, researchers also quantified several other impacts of the food bank’s operation, which spans six counties — Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia — and annually aids an estimated 500,000 people, including more than 190,000 people in Orange.
Gauging a nonprofit’s economic contribution is complicated. Unlike a for-profit business, a charitable service such as a food bank provides social goods that yield direct and in-direct upsides, with the latter having far-reaching consequences. We know that food insecurity is linked to poor health; it affects performance in school and at work; and it can even drive people to commit crime. But when someone is not hungry, then many other people benefit from reductions in crime, delinquency and lost productivity, as well as by increased contributions to the local economy and taxes.
So by feeding the hungry, Second Harvest enhances the overall well-being of a community. The scope and scale of its efforts are so large, in fact, that it transcends the food bank paradigm, as the following study findings affirmed:
$135 million — value of food Second Harvest distributed.
$14.5 million — economic impact generated by helping people qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (also known as food stamps).
$19 million — tax savings realized by donors.
22,500 tons — food saved from disposal.
30,000 cubic tons — potentially wasted food diverted to us.
Perhaps one of the more remarkable results of the study was the conclusion that every $1 invested in Second Harvest returned $13.06 in economic benefit. That’s a 1,306 percent return on investment.
But the study also exposed the enormity of the challenge Second Harvest and its 550 partner organizations are facing. For example, while the food bank delivered an estimated $45 million in food in Orange County, the study estimated there was a need for $103 million in hunger relief in that area alone.
Even with a vastly improved economy, 20 percent of our neighbors struggle with food insecurity every day. That percentage could grow exponentially if Congress and the White House support draconian cuts to the nation’s food stamp program.
Whatever the outcome, Second Harvest Food Bank remains committed to its mission to create hope and nourish lives through a powerful hunger-relief network. And in doing so, it’s good to know that this mission helps sustain not only people in need, but the local economy, too.