Widespread poverty and a worsening economic crisis have in recent years led the voluntary sector in Israel to increase its direct provision of food to the needy, through a variety of food aid organizations.
This survey aimed to identify types of food aid organization, describe their characteristics and work patterns, learn what aspects of their work promote their success, and identify the difficulties they encounter. It was conducted in 2004 using telephone interviews based on an open questionnaire. Eighty-five directors of food aid organizations were interviewed.
The survey identified a number of food aid organization models:
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Local organizations that concentrate on distributing food only
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Soup kitchens
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Organizations with a broad “agenda” that includes welfare and empowerment (and that offer additional assistance, such as job seeking seminars, and help with household management and education)
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Food cooperatives (that is, member-run centers that purchase basic food items cooperatively)
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Food banks (which do not provide direct assistance to the needy, but rather collect large quantities of food, which they then distribute to other food aid organizations)
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Food aid organizations in schools.
Despite the differences among them, the organizations faced some common difficulties:
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Difficulty obtaining funding, due in part to reduced financial assistance from agencies such as local authorities
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Difficulties of infrastructure and logistics (transportation, distribution, storage), and obtaining and gathering food contributions
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An imbalance between (rising) demand and supply (the quantities of food collected)
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Difficulty overseeing the work of volunteers, and cultivating a long-term commitment to volunteering
Factors that contribute to the success of organizations are: implementation by volunteers, which frees other resources for purchase and storage of the food to be distributed; functioning as a commercial organization whose success depends in part on efficiency; and management as a professional financial and food aid collection and distribution agency. It therefore appears to be important to strengthen these aspects of the organizations’ functioning.
The study findings have been presented at international forums to food aid organization professionals. Their publication is intended to encourage volunteer service providers and local and national policymakers to strengthen the factors responsible for the organizations’ success, and cooperation among them.