Central Pennsylvania Food Bank

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
232202250
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Harrisburg, PA, USA
Phone
7175641700
Rating
91
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food Banks, Pantries

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$134,229,134
Expenses
$133,468,429
Assets
$40,066,150
Liabilities
$4,554,006

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID ARK (BOARD PRESIDENT (THROUGH 12/2024))
  • PATRICIA HUSIC (BOARD VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JOSEPH ARTHUR (CEO (THROUGH 6/2025))
  • SHILA ULRICH (PRESIDENT (AS OF 1/2025))

Highest reported compensation

  • JOSEPH ARTHUR (CEO (THROUGH 6/2025)): $299,355 total reported compensation
  • LISA KREIDER (CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER): $166,108 total reported compensation
  • AMANDA HAFFLY (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $153,178 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Ending hunger by providing nutritious food, fostering community collaboration, and advancing innovative solutions. The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank provides careful stewardship to our resources and demonstrates integrity in all that we do. We uphold our mission with the trust of our staff, board, donors, volunteers, recipients, and partners. Our strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency have earned the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank a 4-star rating from **Charity Navigator** , America’s largest independent charity evaluator assessment organization that evaluates charitable organizations in the United States. You can also review the Food Bank’s financials on Candid.org, an information service specializing in reporting on U.S. nonprofit companies.

What it reported doing in 2024

Improving lives: central Pennsylvania food bank, an innovator in the feeding america network, is committed to improving the lives of people in need. Services like the snap healthline assist with enrollment in snap and referral to other services. Mobile distributions served over 8 million meals this year, inclusive of our militaryshare program that focuses on veterans and their families. Youth-focused programs like kids cafe, backpack, and school pantries served tens of thousands of children each week, and our eldershare program reached over 4,000 seniors each month. Also during fy2025, cpfb leveraged the local food purchase assistance and Pennsylvania agricultural surplus programs, the mid-atlantic regional cooperative, and farmers, producers, grocers, and distributors to share over 27.8 million pounds of nutritious farm products with neighbors. We continue our healthcare partnerships, such as healthshare boxes and our food as medicine programming.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 90% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 94
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 96.2%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $43.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 96.7%; rating input score 97; 30th 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.6%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.3; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.8%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 97% of revenue deployed · 96.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $128.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $299K · 29 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $1.5M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 737 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 597 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.