Pantry 279 Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
813024014
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Elletsville, IN, USA
Phone
8126061524
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food Banks, Pantries

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$548,583
Expenses
$499,965
Assets
$196,183
Liabilities
$3,786

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • James Dudley (President)
  • John Scheiwe (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Cara Ayala (Director): $5,309 total reported compensation
  • Kira Chavez (Director): $1,699 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Pantry 279 was established by Girl's Scou Troop 69-279 of Ellettsville, Indiana. The purpose is to distribute food items and other basic essential living items to those who cannot afford them in Elletsville, Indiana and surrounding areas while still providing opportunities for youth to serve the local community.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, Pantry 279 served 137,089 individuals, giving them approximately 1 large box, produce, meat, and bread to those who came to our self choice pantry, for a total amount provided of 1.3 million pounds of non-perishables, meat, bread, and fresh produce, including 3,446 children to whom we provided food while school was out for the summer. Clothing and household items were also provided to 39,558 people. 21,940 people received Thanksgiving boxes, and 2,433 children received Christmas gifts. We also increased our delivery area for the homebound to Monroe, Owen, and Lawrence counties, feeding 22,175 homebound individuals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 60
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.6%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 84%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 8.9%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.39; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.4%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.3% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.6% of revenue deployed · 84% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $420K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $5K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.