Countryside Cares
Legal name: Countryside Cares Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 462399940
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Jun 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2016, Form 990-N 2014
- Location
- Clearwater, FL, USA
- Phone
- 7277241290
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Fund Raising and Fund Distribution
- Affiliation
- Religious (unspecified)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,859,656
- Expenses
- $1,939,856
- Assets
- $180,793
- Liabilities
- $179,793
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JUANITA WILSON (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- ELIZABETH ELKA (DIRECTOR)
- RICH ELKA (VICE PRESIDE)
- HORATIO SILVA (TREASURER)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of countryside cares can be summarized as follows: helping hands and the mobile food truck exist to provide food, loving support and practical guidance to families, singles, elderly and the homeless. We also encourage and provide homeless and low-income families with the tools needed to become independent and productive members of the community.
What it reported doing in 2024
Countryside cares programs: helping hands is a christ-centered service community providing food to those in need, serving with love, respect and compassion. The helping hands pantry currently serves as a drive-thru pantry. We provide fresh produce, breads/sweets, frozen meats and non-perishable foods. We purpose to particularly reach the underserved areas, the elderly, low-income and single-parent families in our communities. Our distribution locations are countryside, south tampa, and other pop-up locations around pinellas and hillsborough counties. During the tax period, the community donated 3,150,778 lbs of food, and 80,000 of clothing and household items.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
- 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 23
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -4.3%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.09; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.99; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 34.8% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.