"The DESC team was instrumental in helping us channel our energies and resources more effectively."
As success stories come, they don't get much better than Forgotten Harvest. Named Crain's Detroit Business 2007 Best-Managed Nonprofit, the agency now ranks third in the nation for food rescue.
"The Strategic Plan we created with DESC positioned Forgotten Harvest to implement new strategies, involve more people, create partnerships and increase our service ten-fold" stated
Susan Goodell, executive director, Forgotten Harvest.
A nonprofit founded in 1990, Forgotten Harvest rescues food from restaurants, grocery stores and others. An army of volunteers then redistributes the food through soup kitchens, pantries and shelters.
In 2007, more than 8.6 million pounds of perishable and prepared food were delivered to 135 agencies over a three-county area. That same year saw Forgotten Harvest move to new headquarters in Oak Park. The 20,000-square-foot facility dwarfs their former location. Forgotten Harvest can now handle much larger shipments of food, especially items that require refrigeration.
That's a long way to come in 17 years, and Detroit Executive Service Corps is proud to have been an active partner in that growth. The relationship began seven years ago, when Forgotten Harvest was still a small agency with big dreams. A contact with DESC brought a team of Corps volunteers with a single mission: to work with agency stakeholders to create an action plan that would not only meet those dreams, but give them room to grow.
With efficiencies multiplying in their spacious new facility, Forgotten Harvest stakeholders and DESC consultants have proof that the mission has - at least for the time being - been accomplished.
For more information on Forgotten Harvest, call 248-967-1500 or visit their web site: www.forgottenharvest.org.
