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Why Does the Foodbank Charge Handling Fees?

1. What are Handling Fees?
The Idaho Foodbank does not charge its member agencies for food. Rather, the agencies contribute Handling Fees to help partially offset the cost of the Foodbank’s services. The function of handling fees is to allow the Foodbank and the agency to share the cost to obtain food, transport it to one of our warehouses and get food to the people who need it, when they need it and where they need it.

2. Why are Handling Fees necessary?
The continual maintenance of a professional-quality food distribution organization costs money. Handling fees help to defray a portion of these costs. Many services are donated, but it is not possible to procure underwriting for all costs associated with distribution of 4½ million pounds of food to our network of member agencies throughout Idaho.

3. What do Handling Fees cover?
The Idaho Foodbank maintains three warehouses - in Boise, Lewiston and Pocatello - with a total capacity of more than 45,000 square feet and 650,000 cubic feet of usable storage space. Each Foodbank site has both frozen and dry storage to respond to local demands. Each site has rent (or mortgage) payments; utility and maintenance costs (including upkeep on the coolers and freezers); staff and equipment; and transportation costs in either our own or leased trucks that bring product in from throughout the country. Handling Fees pay a portion of these operating expenses, approximately 25-30% of the total cost to obtain, store and sort food. The Foodbank covers the rest of the expenses with donations from corporate and foundation grants, special events and individual contributions, and other sources. The Foodbank also relies heavily on volunteers to assist with every aspect of operations.

4. What are the advantages to agencies that receive food from The Idaho Foodbank?
The Foodbank performs many functions that small agencies could not.
For instance the Foodbank:
a. Solicits food from national, regional and local sources, which allows agencies to select from a wide variety of food. This helps them to provide nutritionally balanced supplies of food to those in need
b. Runs large food drives
c. Provides national, regional and local transportation, as well as warehouse and refrigeration space
d. Supplies warehouse and office staff, quality control checks and volunteers
e. Does fund-raising and writes grants
f. Conducts public relations and marketing campaigns

As a result of these services, the smaller agencies are free to spend more of their funds providing specialized services for their clients.

It also greatly increases the public’s trust when a non-profit makes sound use of its financial donations, and The Idaho Foodbank has been designated the most efficient non-profit agency in Idaho by Charity Navigator, an independent national monitoring agency.

5. How high can Handling Fees be?
America's Second Harvest - a nationwide affiliation of food banks - sets the maximum for Handling Fees at 18 cents. The Idaho Foodbank maintains an average fee of 11 cents, approximately 64% of the allowable limit. This average includes the additional transportation costs of 3¢ per pound for the product that is transported to Foodbank agencies. (The 3¢ per pound figures is only to help offset transportation of products already on hand at a Foodbank facility.)

6. What services can The Idaho Foodbank offer to their food donors?
The Idaho Foodbank is fully certified by America’s Second Harvest. As a part of this certification process, the Foodbank undergoes regular inspections by professional sanitation engineers from the food industry who volunteer their services. These specialists help keep the Foodbank in compliance with federal, state and industry guidelines for inventory control, best practices and sanitation. In addition to this technical assistance from the food industry, trained professionals from America’s Second Harvest conduct compliance evaluations every two years. This compliance function is augmented in certified affiliate food banks by periodic inspections by other entities appropriate to food warehouses, e.g. health and fire departments and appropriate state and local agencies. These regular compliance inspections ensure the integrity of the food and that all product is protected from:
a. Weather – Certified affiliates of America’s Second Harvest meet standards for physical plant maintenance. Interior temperatures are controlled for optimal food storage conditions.
b. Pests – Certified food banks comply with proper sanitation and food storage procedures, and are monitored regularly by experts in quality and pest control.
c. Theft – Professional inventory control procedures are part of the standard operating procedures at The Idaho Foodbank. Staff members are professionally trained in proper handling of inventories. In addition, exacting recordkeeping systems are required for all America’s Second Harvest food banks.
d. Illegal Resale – Certified food banks monitor product distribution closely. Agencies may order only the appropriate amounts necessary to supply the needs of their specific programs and are required to maintain records pertaining to distribution for the most recent three years. Agencies and The Idaho Foodbank sign a contract that describes their joint responsibilities in this area. At the request of a donor, all distributions can be traced and recalled if necessary. This system helps ensure accountability of product use, thereby preventing product resale problems.

7. Who owns the food received from The Idaho Foodbank?
Though agencies pay Handling Fees to The Idaho Foodbank to help offset costs, these fees do not give ownership of the food received to the Foodbank or the agencies. The Idaho Foodbank and its member agencies are the "pipeline" to get the food from donors to the needy. Neither The Foodbank nor the agencies ever own the donated food even though both have it in their possession. The food is "owned" by the end users, hungry Idahoans who are eligible to receive aid. Consequently, neither the Foodbank nor the agency is allowed to sell or trade the food.


8. Are there exceptions to these rules?
There is one, known as VAP – value added processing. Some commodities come to America’s Second Harvest or the Idaho Foodbank unpackaged. These may include protein (particularly fish), produce and a few others. America’s Second Harvest or the Foodbank pays for the packaging and passes the cost along. The Foodbank adds this cost per pound to shared maintenance to recover the cost incurred to get the food to Idaho.