Full Plates, Full Minds

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Executive Summary

Full Plates, Full Minds is a nonprofit in Oklahoma that sends food home with students who may not have enough to eat on weekends and school breaks. A school counselor or nurse quietly identifies students in need, volunteers pack easy-to-prepare meal bags and the bags go home in backpacks so that no student is singled out.

Children who are hungry have trouble concentrating, are sick more often and fall behind. For many students, school meals are the most reliable food of the week. With this grant we will pay for food and part of a coordinator who works with the schools. We do not give medical or nutrition advice, and we do not promise any academic result. We follow food safety rules and keep every student's participation private.

What we are asking for. Our program has a Year 1 budget of about $256,500. We are asking for $60,000 from a regional United Way to food for weekend and holiday meal bags and part of a school partnerships coordinator salary. The rest of the budget comes from other grants, sponsors and donors that are listed in the funding section. Every dollar amount in this plan is an estimate and none of it is a promise of any result for the people we serve.

Company Description

Full Plates, Full Minds is a nonprofit organization recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, governed by a volunteer board that includes teachers, parents and business leaders. The board meets monthly, approves the budget and oversees the executive director. A new organization without its own determination letter can use a fiscal sponsor, explained in the funding section.

What we believe. No child should go hungry, and no child should feel embarrassed to receive help. We work through the schools, respect families and keep every student's participation confidential.

What we do:
- Weekend meal bags. Easy-to-prepare, shelf-stable food for the weekend, sent home on Fridays in backpacks.
- Holiday and summer packs. Extra food before breaks and at the start of summer.
- School partnerships. A coordinator works with counselors and nurses to find students in need and with principals to handle logistics.
- Volunteer packing. Community groups pack bags in a clean space with food safety training.

What we do not do. We do not give cash, give medical or nutrition advice or collect personal information beyond what the school shares. Food is chosen with common allergies in mind, and bags are labeled so families can check ingredients.

Who we serve. Students in kindergarten through grade 12 at partner schools where most students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

Our board has at least five members, including at least one person who has used our services or lives in the community we serve, and only a minority of board members may be related to each other or paid by the organization.

We keep a written conflict of interest policy, a whistleblower policy and a record retention policy, and the board reviews them every year.

Problem & Opportunity

Many students go hungry when school is not in session.

1. Weekend hunger. For some students, school breakfast and lunch are the main meals of the week.
2. School breaks. Holidays and summer leave long gaps.
3. Effects on learning. Hungry children have more trouble paying attention and are absent more often.
4. Stigma. Children do not want to be seen receiving food assistance.
5. Limited transportation and pantry hours. Families may not be able to reach a food pantry when it is open.

Why it matters now. Food costs are rising and many families in our area are struggling to keep up. Schools see hunger every day and want practical help.

How we know the need is real. We reviewed the share of students at partner schools who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, talked with school counselors and nurses and surveyed 120 families. Counselors told us they see students who come to school hungry on Mondays. The numbers are in the appendix.

We update these facts every year using public data, partner reports and what the people we serve tell us, and we change the program when the facts change. If a need turns out to be smaller than we thought, we will say so and put the money where it is needed most.

Products & Services

What the funded project will do. With this grant we will pay for food for weekend and holiday meal bags and part of a school partnerships coordinator for a full year.

How a student takes part:
1. Identification. A school counselor or nurse, with the family's consent, identifies students who could use the bags.
2. Packing. Volunteers pack bags each week with food that is easy to prepare, such as cereal, soup, pasta and fruit cups.
3. Delivery. We deliver bags to the school each Thursday.
4. Distribution. The school quietly places a bag in each student's backpack on Friday.
5. Review. We check in with the school each month and adjust the food list.

What the grant pays for. The request covers food and part of the coordinator's salary.

What we do not promise. We do not promise that any student's grades or attendance will improve. We track the number of bags delivered and what schools report and report honestly.

Safety and privacy. Food is stored and handled according to food safety rules, labeled with ingredients and checked for expiration dates. Student names are not shared outside the school. Volunteers pass background checks and never hand out bags directly to students. We call 911 for emergencies.

We start small, check what works and grow only when we can do the work well. Every few months we review the numbers and the stories from the people we serve and change the plan where it is not working.

We write plain-language handouts for every step so people know what to expect, what it costs and who to call with questions, and we ask each person at the end whether the help was useful and what we could do better.

Market Analysis

Who benefits from this project are students at partner schools in our service area and their families.

Who we serve. Students from kindergarten through grade 12 whose families struggle to afford enough food, many of whom live in rural areas without easy access to a pantry.

How many people we plan to serve. In Year 1 we plan to deliver about 300 bags a week at 8 schools during the school year, reaching about 300 students, and about 300 extra packs before holidays and summer. By Year 5 we plan to reach about 700 students a year at 20 schools. We chose these numbers from the capacity of our storage and van at first and a second route in later years.

Where we serve. Schools in our county and neighboring counties where most students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

Who else benefits. Teachers whose students are better prepared to learn, parents who gain some relief and communities that see children thrive.

How we will be careful. Student names stay with the school, we do not collect extra information and we respect each family's privacy.

We choose how many people to serve from the number of staff, hours and rooms we really have, not from the size of the need. If we reach fewer people than planned, we will report it and explain why.

Competitive Landscape

Other choices in our area.

1. School meals. Provide breakfast and lunch on school days but not on weekends.
2. Food pantries. Provide groceries but have limited hours and may be far away.
3. Federal summer meal programs. Provide meals at certain sites but with limited reach.
4. Other backpack programs. Serve some schools in the region.
5. Faith communities that give out food.

What makes us different. We deliver discreetly through the school each week, so no student is singled out and no family has to travel. We work with the food bank and other backpack programs and share information about schools.

How we avoid duplication. We meet with the food bank and other backpack programs each term to agree on which schools each will serve and to share what we learn.

We keep a written list of every other organization that does similar work in our area and review it each year. If another group can serve a person better, we refer the person and say so plainly. Funders can expect us to tell the truth about overlap, to share what we learn and to work as part of a larger network of help.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How we will reach schools and families once the project is funded.

School partners. Principals, counselors and nurses will identify students and host a quiet distribution system.

Community partners. Churches, civic clubs and businesses will pack bags and donate food and funds.

Family communication. Families receive a short letter from the school in English and Spanish with a way to opt out.

Word of mouth. Teachers and volunteers tell their friends. With permission, we share anonymous stories.

Digital outreach. A website and social media will share what we need and how to volunteer. We will not post any student's picture or name.

Access. Distribution takes place at school so that no transportation is needed, and bags are designed so that older students and young children can prepare the food.

Measuring outreach. We will track how many schools ask to join and how many volunteers and donors respond and adjust our outreach where it is not working.

Marketing budget. Outreach and printing are part of the program budget.

Most people hear about services from someone they already trust, so we spend more time with partners and neighbors than on advertising. We write our materials in plain language, test them with a few people from the community and fix anything that confuses them.

Operations Plan

How the project will be carried out, in plain terms.

Timeline for Year 1. Months 1 and 2: sign school agreements, finalize the food list with a nutrition advisor, prepare the van and storage and train volunteers. Months 3 to 12: pack and deliver bags each week during the school year and prepare holiday and summer packs.

Space. A donated or low-cost warehouse or church room for storage and packing.

Partners. Schools, the regional food bank, grocery stores and civic clubs. Each has a written agreement.

Food safety and privacy rules. Food is stored off the floor, kept at safe temperatures and checked for dates. Volunteers wash hands, wear gloves and pass background checks. Bags are labeled with ingredients and allergens. Student information stays with the school. We call 911 for emergencies.

Money controls. Food is bought from vendors and the food bank, and two people review every payment. We keep an inventory of what comes in and goes out.

Records and reporting. We track bags delivered, schools served and volunteer hours and report to funders each quarter.

Training. Staff and volunteers receive training in food safety and student privacy.

We write down every step of the project in a short manual so that any trained staff member can carry it out the same way. We hold a short team meeting every week to review problems, safety concerns and numbers, and we ask the people we serve for feedback at least twice a year.

Management & Organization

The executive director leads the organization and manages the budget and partners. The school partnerships coordinator works with schools and volunteers, and food program assistants pack and deliver the bags.

The team. Pay figures include payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance. The numbers in parentheses are how many people we plan to have in Years 1 through 5.
- Executive Director: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (Years 1 to 5), about $58,000 a year each.
- School Partnerships Coordinator: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2 (Years 1 to 5), about $44,000 a year each.
- Food Program Assistant (part-time): 2, 2, 2, 3, 3 (Years 1 to 5), about $20,000 a year each.

Governance and money controls. A volunteer board of directors oversees the budget and the executive director. Two people review every payment, the board reviews financial statements every month, an outside accountant prepares the yearly tax return and audit-ready records, and every grant is tracked in its own budget line. We screen staff and volunteers who work with the people we serve, train everyone on privacy and safety and keep written policies on conflicts of interest and complaints.

Staff and advisors. We seek staff with experience in education or food programs and welcome people who grew up in our communities. An advisory group of a teacher, a nurse, a food bank staff member and a parent meets quarterly.

Feedback and complaints. Anyone we serve can give feedback or a complaint by phone, in writing or in person, and can ask to speak with the board chair. We reply within five working days, keep a log of every complaint and report the themes to the board each quarter. No one loses services for speaking up.

Milestones Narrative

Goals for each of the first five years and how we will measure results. These are goals, not promises.
- Before the grant starts (2 to 3 months before the grant starts): sign school agreements, finalize the food list, prepare the van and storage space and train volunteers
- Year 1: deliver about 300 bags a week at 8 schools and about 300 holiday and summer packs. The budget is $256,500.
- Year 2: add schools and a second packing day. The budget is $262,500.
- Year 3: hire a second coordinator and add a summer program. The budget is $269,000.
- Year 4: add a second route. The budget is $341,500.
- Year 5: reach about 700 students a year at 20 schools and publish a plain results report. The budget is $349,000.

How we will measure results: bags delivered, students reached, schools served, volunteer hours, teacher and counselor feedback and families who report less worry about weekend food. We report results to funders in the same plain numbers we use here, and we say honestly when a goal was missed and what we changed.

We report to funders every quarter and send a short plain-language summary to our board each month. At the end of each year we review all of the goals, publish a short results report and update the plan for the next year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $60,000 from a regional United Way for food for weekend and holiday meal bags and part of a school partnerships coordinator salary, for January through December 2027.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Other: Food for weekend and holiday meal bags, $40,000 (other funds add $10,000).
- Personnel: School Partnerships Coordinator salary (part), $20,000 (other funds add $24,000).

Other money in the program. This request is about 28% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $256,500, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $9,100 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: grant revenue $214,500; individual donations $26,000; grocery and business sponsors $16,000. Year 1 costs: executive director $58,000; school partnerships coordinator $44,000; food program assistant (part-time) $40,000; food purchased from vendors and the regional food bank about $70,000; delivery fuel, storage and refrigeration about $12,000; bags, packaging and supplies about $8,000; administration and insurance about $14,000.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $15,700 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $4,500 for a used cargo van with shelving for food deliveries, $2,500 for commercial shelving, a chest freezer and a refrigerator for food storage, $3,000 for opening food stock and packing supplies, $1,500 for food handler training and food safety certification, $2,200 for policy review and legal setup, and $2,000 for van lettering, flyers and a simple website.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($15,700), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $61,500, which is about 3 months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $77,500. We start with $14,000 of our own savings and $65,000 in startup support from a local foundation and our board, $79,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $256,500 in Year 1 to about $349,000 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $214,500, $212,500, $211,000, $275,500, $275,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows as sponsors and donors join. The program plans a small surplus each year, about $9,100, $8,900, $8,900, $10,400 and $10,700 in Years 1 to 5, which we put into savings.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $72,200, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $10,260 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

After the grant. Individual donors and grocery and business sponsors grow each year, so grants become a smaller share. Schools, churches and civic clubs may donate space, food and volunteers.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- Food costs may rise. We buy in bulk and work with the food bank.
- A school may change staff. We keep several contacts.
- A grant may end. We grow donors and sponsors each year and keep savings.
- Volunteers may be hard to find. We recruit early from civic groups.
- A food safety problem could occur. We follow strict rules and train volunteers.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller with one site or one staff member and track results carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this proposal:

- Your IRS determination letter showing 501(c)(3) status, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your board list and board minutes approving the application.
- Your most recent budget and financial statements.
- A list of other funders and what each has given or been asked to give.
- Your school agreements and food safety plan.
- Your volunteer screening policy and privacy policy.
- Your food list and nutrition advisor's review.
- Letters of support from schools and families.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $214,500 in Year 1, growing to $275,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donations: $26,000 in Year 1, growing to $42,000 in Year 5.
- Grocery and Business Sponsors: $16,000 in Year 1, growing to $32,000 in Year 5.
- Staff pay is shown in the management section and includes payroll taxes and workers' compensation.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: food purchased from vendors and the regional food bank $70,000, delivery fuel, storage and refrigeration $12,000, bags, packaging and supplies $8,000, and administration and insurance $14,000. These grow between 4% and 6% a year as the program grows.
- Grant and partner payments arrive after we bill, so about $10,260 (4% of Year 1 income) is owed to us at the end of Year 1.
- The program does not pay income tax. Any surplus stays in the program.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your organization's real numbers.

Plain words used in this proposal:
- Grant: money given for a specific purpose that does not have to be paid back, as long as it is spent as promised.
- Request: the part of the budget we are asking this funder to pay for.
- Surplus: money left over after a year's costs. A small surplus is healthy because it builds savings for slow months.
- Startup costs: one-time costs, such as equipment, paid once before the program runs at full speed.
- Working capital: cash kept in the bank to pay bills while waiting for grant payments.
- In-kind: goods or services given instead of money, such as donated space.
- Fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for a new group and passes the money to its program, usually for a fee.
- 501(c)(3): the tax status that lets a nonprofit receive tax-deductible gifts and many grants.

How to read the numbers. Every income and cost figure is a plan, not a result. Income rises as sponsors and donors join, costs rise a little each year, and each year's budget is planned to balance with a small surplus. Startup costs are shown separately because they are paid once. If a real number turns out different, we will update the plan and tell our funders why.

Startup Costs