.jpg)
YEAR IN REVIEW
With the support of the entire community, the Columbus Food Pantry was able to fill the food gap for many families in our community. Our mission is, “Community churches working together to eliminate hunger”. The Columbus Food Pantry is an independent 501C3 nonprofit organization. Our Pantry is 100% volunteer supported.
2025 Summary Program · While we are aware we serve several households that cannot survive without our services, for the most part, our goal is to supplement the needs of our clients: help them become independent and not create a dependency. The average visits per household in 2025 was 5.
· In 2025, we were made aware of youths in our community who are living alone and are food challenged. In partnership with St. John’s Episcopal Church in Columbus, we are working with school counselors and have developed take-home bags that will provide a full meal. They are easy to prepare and are discretely distributed to avoid any judgement from peers.
· We continue to support Food Closets in our local schools. The Food Closets provide snacks for children who need them on any given day.
· Total Households in 2025 – 589
· Total Individuals in 2025 – 1980
· Average monthly visits per household – 5
· Average households per month – 244
· Average individuals per month - 783
· We continued to augment the monthly food bags for most of the year to include fresh fruit and vegetables, eggs, and more meat, including HEB vouchers for holiday meat and produce in November.
Finance · We were able to stay within our budget of $54,700 for food purchases for the year. That number increased after the first quarter of 2025 in order to continue to provide eggs to our clients on a monthly basis. Total cost of food was $51,376. This expense was $39,550 in 2024. This increase was due to three things: egg prices, overall inflation, and the availability of goods we could purchase from the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent at a cost of $.19 per pound.
· We received grants from both corporate and private foundations.
· Our individual donor base was expanded.
· In addition to cash donations, we received donations of food products from our local-area HEB, Brookshire Brothers, and Walmart. We also were the beneficiary of several food drives at local area schools, churches, and community events.
· Our Volunteers donate countless hours that we cannot begin to place a value on.
· Our In-Kind donors donate items that help with special circumstances as they arise throughout the year. Another value that is priceless.
Operations · Our scope of volunteers has expanded beyond our churches. Volunteers are from many local service clubs, schools, businesses, professional organizations and individuals that share our passion.
· We continue to develop workable Policies and Procedures for our operations. We have written guidelines for inventory, ordering food, and financial procedures.
· We continue to cross train volunteers and board members.
· We continue to use social and print media to convey our mission and service availability.
We look forward to continuing our work in 2026 to raise community awareness of the Columbus Food Pantry and the purpose it serves.
While we appreciate all donations and understand how food drives are community building events and teach children the value of giving to others, if you are considering giving to the Food Pantry or organizing a fundraiser on our behalf, your monetary gifts go a long way. Did you know that a $1 donation can purchase 5 pounds of food from our regional Food Bank, Food Bank of the Golden Crescent? For this reason, we do encourage monetary gifts to maximize your resources.
If you have questions about your receipt or the food pantry operations, please contact us at 979500-4292 or via email at [email protected]. Please also follow us on Facebook where we post reminders and information at http://www. facebook. com/ nobodyhungry
