Clemmons Food Pantry is proud of the service we provide to our clients and we are ready to take the next step forward to build a Center of Harvest that will provide a larger food storage and distribution facility with additional space to join with community partners and offer educational opportunities for clients.

The Problem

Since 2004, the Clemmons Food Pantry has experienced tremendous growth. We currently provide our clients with a week’s worth of supplemental groceries every 30 days, and our client census has doubled since we first opened our doors. Luckily, we have experienced increased community donations to help with the increased need, but that has created a warehouse issue. Since 2014, our community donations have increased by 12,000 pounds per month. This growth has significantly strained our facility. Because our shopping and warehouse space is so limited, we struggle to store all the food we receive at our facility in an environment that is efficient for our volunteers and clients.

Our client services are restricted by the fact that we have outgrown our waiting, shopping and warehousing spaces. The interview process takes place in a loud waiting area with no privacy. Our goal is to always treat clients with dignity and respect. Many are coming to us in a time of crisis and being able to work with them in a non-tumultuous environment is important.

Another significant challenge is the lack of training and meeting space. As we grow and move forward, we want to be part of the larger conversation about food insecurity.  To accommodate this vision, we need a room dedicated to training and workshops to help our clients address the root causes of hunger.

Finally, our parking situation is problematic. Our lot is not big enough to handle our clients and volunteers during distribution days, and on the many days when there is a large number of clients, they are often forced to park on the street or wherever they can find room. This limits our capacity to serve our clients and volunteers properly.

The Plan for our Center of Harvest

The Clemmons Food Pantry has created a plan to address the problems caused by this lack of space. Some of the major improvements, including a receiving dock, community room and parking lot, are listed below.

• Build a receiving dock
• Expand the client shopping area to 1650 square feet
• Create a 1550 square feet warehouse area
• Add a floor scale
• Accommodate client and volunteer parking on our premises
• Provide a community training room
• Expand freezer space with a walk-in freezer
• Provide a designated client advocate area
• Create a more efficient and safer traffic flow

Capital Campaign

Clemmons Food Pantry has embarked on a capital campaign to raise the money it needs to create the Center of Harvest.

Project Benefits

The capital project will resolve all of Clemmons Food Pantry’s current space limitations and position us to meet demand for the foreseeable future. It will enable us to increase food donations, distribute food more efficiently, provide an excellent environment for our volunteers and call upon community resources to provide educational opportunities to our clients.

Project Budget

The total cost of the project is $500,000. It includes all construction and new racking, equipment, technology upgrades and furnishings.

We invite the community to learn more about this ambitious but essential expansion project and contribute to its success. We are very excited about the potential to improve everything we do for our clients, volunteers and community.

Ways to Give

Clemmons Food Pantry welcomes your support for creating a Center of Harvest in our community. Listed below are ways you can make your gift.

• Outright gift of cash: You can make a one-time gift or a multi-year pledge payable over three years. Checks should be made payable to Clemmons Food Pantry Building Fund. Pledges of at least $100,000 can be paid over a longer period. Each pledge payment is receipted when received by Clemmons Food Pantry. Give now and be sure to designate your donation to the Capital Campaign.
• Gifts of stock: You or your broker can transfer stock to Clemmons Food Pantry. The donor is entitled to a charitable deduction for the full (appreciated)value of the stock and pays no capital gains tax. To transfer stock, you or your broker can contact CapitalCampaign@clemmonsfoodpantry.org.
• IRA charitable rollover: A donor of at least age 70 ½ can transfer up to $100,000 from an IRA to the Clemmons Food Pantry annually. While there is no traditional charitable deduction for the rollover, the amount transferred does not count as regular income and is not taxed, so it functions, in effect, as a deduction. It also satisfies the minimum distribution requirement of the IRA. To initiate a charitable rollover, contact your IRA plan administrator and provide instructions to transfer the funds to Clemmons Food Pantry.
• Planned and insurance gifts: The campaign accepts gifts cited in documented will provisions and life insurance, provided the donor is age 70 or older. Will provisions and life insurance are acknowledged by letter but not receipted, although the expected gift is documented in the campaign. The gift is receipted when received by Clemmons Food Pantry.
• One Donation (workplace giving): One Donation is a simple and innovative solution that helps corporate donors enable employees to support nonprofit causes alongside their employers. The benefits are numerous: increased donations for the nonprofit, increased employee engagement through employee participation in a corporate giving initiative, and the corporation gets to showcase its corporate social responsibility, resulting in better employee recruitment and corporate branding.