Arlington Food Assistance Center

What it reported doing in 2024

The Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) is an independent, community-based, nonprofit food pantry that provides dignified access to nutritious supplemental groceries to all Arlington neighbors in need. AFAC works to relieve long-term food insecurity in Arlington County and nearby jurisdictions. AFAC focuses its food offerings on the high-cost items in a grocery basket that are essential for a healthy, nutritious diet, which are often avoided by low-income families - proteins (chicken, fish, hotdogs & ground beef), fresh fruit & vegetables, eggs, and milk among a number of culturally important food products. This allows families to reduce their food budget to make other necessary purchases without sacrificing their health, housing, or nutritional needs. AFAC operates its main distribution site out of their warehouse/headquarters at 2708 South Nelson Street and distributes food at 20 other locations around Arlington County. This includes a Home Delivery service for home-bound individuals in need of food. In the year ended June 30, 2025, AFAC served an average of 4,201 families each week just under 12,000 individuals, a third of whom are children under the age of 18. In total, 8,455 unique families were served during 199,820 visits for food. This was an 8.9% percent increase over the previous year (FY24) which saw a 30.4% on top of the FY23 increase of 29.4 percent increase. This increase in families has significantly strained AFAC's resources by requiring the purchase of over $1 million in additional food to be distributed to AFAC's families. AFAC works in close cooperation with the Arlington County Department of Human Services, the Arlington Public Schools, and over 20 other social safety net nonprofits to refer families in need of food to AFAC. With a referral, a family can receive free groceries once a week for six months. A referral can be renewed as long as a social worker believes the family will continue to benefit from AFAC's services. AFAC collects donated food from local grocery stores, farmers' markets, community gardens, local farms, congregations, schools, businesses, community organizations, and from numerous food drives conducted by or on behalf of AFAC. The donated food is brought to AFAC where it is weighed, sorted, and prepared for distribution to the many families that rely on AFAC for help. In addition to 1.4 million pounds of donated food, AFAC distributed nearly 3.7 million pounds of food purchased from local and national wholesale and retail distributors for a total of 5.1 million pounds distributed to its families in the year ended June 30, 2025.AFAC relies on the support of numerous individuals, businesses, foundations, and Arlington County to provide the financial resources, donated food, and the volunteer services essential to the operation of AFAC. Over 2,700 volunteers provided 51,000 hours of time to AFAC, the equivalent of 25 full-time employees.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 82.4%; rating input score 82
• Program expense ratio: 87.4%; rating input score 87
• Fundraising efficiency: $14.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 8.6%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.43; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 11.6%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings