Westside Food Bank

What it reported doing in 2024

During fy 2024-25, westside food bank distributed nearly 5.2 million pounds of nutritious food, equivalent to approximately 4.3 million meals for community members in need. Of the food distributed, 52% consisted of fresh fruits and vegetables, reinforcing our commitment to providing healthy, nutritious options to the individuals and families we serve.westside food bank served 140,298 unduplicated people during the year, an increase of approximately 40,000 individuals compared to the previous year. We also expanded our network by adding four new nonprofit partner agencies, further strengthening our ability to reach communities experiencing food insecurity across our service area.community engagement also reached historic levels this year. Westside food bank hosted 2,727 volunteers during fy 2024-25, the highest number of volunteers welcomed in a single year in our 42-year history. This represents a significant increase from the 950 individuals who volunteered with us during fy 2023-24.in addition, dozens of partner agencies were able to focus more fully on providing critical wraparound services to their clients because they could rely on westside food bank for a consistent supply of free, high-quality groceries.in fy 2024-25, westside food bank welcomed four new nonprofit partners into our network: grass roots neighbors, holman united methodist church, la care, and new directions macarthur. Grass roots neighbors delivers groceries to more than 70 food-insecure families, while holman united methodist church provides community-based food assistance to local residents. Through our partnership with la care, we are helping connect healthcare access with nutritious food support, and new directions macarthur serves veterans and neighbors in need throughout the community. These partnerships expand our reach and strengthen our ability to ensure that even more westside residents have access to the healthy, nutritious food they deserve.during fy 24-25, our summer children's nutrition program helped thousands of children access healthy food during the summer break, a time when school meals are unavailable and family budgets are stretched thin. This program has consistently grown to provide weekly food boxes to over 1,300 children during the summer. When wildfires struck the palisades in january 2025, our community stepped up in extraordinary ways. In the weeks that followed, visits to our free mobile food markets and member agency pantries surged by 30%. Even seven months later, we are still seeing elevated need as many households continue to recover from displacement, job loss, and other hardships caused by the disaster. Thanks to the generosity of donors who gave money, food, and supplies, and to the staff and equipment loaned to us by other food banks, we were able to respond immediately.together, we brought relief to neighbors impacted by the fires by hosting monthly emergency aid resource fairs where we distributed meal boxes, fresh produce, hygiene kits, diapers, baby formula, masks, water, and other essential items. We partnered with cd 11 councilwoman traci park and have hosted multiple emergency distribution resource fairs at the west la municipal building plaza where we continue meeting people impacted by the palisades fire, including a group of palisades high school students who have volunteered at each fire relief resource fair since we started holding them. We also have more scheduled in the coming months. We invited community-based partners to table at these events to support people affected by or recovering from fires, job loss, and economic instability, especially those who may not have been aware of the resources available to them. The building purchased by wsfb during fy 2023-24 at 1914 14th street is the first building the organization has owned in its more than 40-year history. During fy 2024-25, the building continued to serve as a critical operational and volunteer hub, where volunteers sorted and boxed donated and pu

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 69.6%; rating input score 70
• Program expense ratio: 84%; rating input score 84
• Fundraising efficiency: $16.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 17.6%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.59; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 4.5%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 17.5% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 17.3% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 23.4% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings