Food Protection Trends

COMMENTARY from the Executive Director
February 2006

“Thanks to all who are actively supporting the IAFP Foundation!”
By David W. Tharp, IAFP Executive Director

As of the end of 2005, the IAFP Foundation held about $350,000 in its reserves. This is a huge improvement over where the balance stood approaching the end of the year 2000. As I recall, in 1999, Harry Haverland and the Foundation Committee set a goal of reaching $100,000 in the year 2000. At the time, this seemed like a lofty goal, as the Foundation balance had remained steady between $70,000 and $80,000 for many years. To increase it by $20,000 or more in fifteen to eighteen months would be considered a big accomplishment! This goal was met late in 2000 and Harry was so proud that we exceeded what we set out to achieve.

More recently, the Foundation Committee size has been expanded and additional enthusiasm evolved from the Committee Members. Bigger goals have been set – a really BIG goal has now been set for the Foundation. Our goal is to build funds in the Foundation to reach $1 million by 2010 while continuing to support the many worthy programs. Not only do we want to continue to support the current programs, but also there are plans to expand our Foundation-supported programs!

You can see that the current Committee Members are not afraid of setting the bar high! But, you can also see that support for the IAFP Foundation has run at an unparallel pace since reaching our $100,000 goal in 2000. More than $250,000 has been raised in five years time! Even with that success, we have a huge goal in front of us now as we have to raise more than one-half-a million dollars in just five years time!!! I invite you to contact me or a member of the Foundation Committee if your company might be interested in supporting the fundraising campaign.

This is not something that was conceived without a plan to back it up. There are three parallel efforts underway to help the Foundation meet its goal. First and foremost, there has been and will continue to be efforts to expand the number of individual IAFP Members who contribute to the Foundation. Prior to the year 2000, there were very few individual contributors. Now, if you look at page 127, you will see many of your colleagues are actively supporting the Foundation! Every contribution helps further the mission of IAFP so we encourage you to consider a contribution to the Foundation to help further
its work. We have made it easy to contribute either directly through the IAFP Web site (under the “Foundation” tab) or with your Membership renewal. Please consider making a contribution if you have not done so in the past and if you have made contributions – Thank You for your support!

A second effort to raise additional funds for the Foundation was made when we added Gold
and Silver levels to the Sustaining Member Program. A substantial portion of Sustaining Membership fees are allocated directly to the Foundation and has led to growth in the fund. The Gold and Silver Sustaining Member Program was introduced in 2001 and we have been fortunate to see steady growth over the years. You may review a listing of our Gold and Silver Sustaining Members on page 76. Please extend your thanks to individuals from these companies for their wonderful support!

The third effort is just reaching its beginning although the effort has been underway for some time. This involves IAFP reaching out directly to corporate donors. You may recall the filming that took place at IAFP 2005. We are in the final editing phase of completing a promotional DVD for the IAFP Foundation,
which will allow us to carry our message to corporate officials with decision-making power. We recognize that most contributions will need to be worked into future budgets and we are ready to work together to this end. We extend our sincere thanks to Kraft Foods, F&H Food Equipment Co., Wilbur Feagan, and Silliker, Inc. for their substantial contributions to the IAFP Foundation. They have seen the vision for the Foundation and agreed to support its efforts. For that, we are thankful!

In addition to these efforts, we also want to recognize that some of IAFP’s Affiliate organizations choose to support the Foundation, too. Over the past few years, Affiliates from California, Florida, Ontario, Texas, and Wisconsin have contributed to the Foundation. Thanks to each of these IAFP Affiliates – we hope your enthusiasm will be matched by other Affiliate organizations!

Overall, the IAFP Foundation is thriving. We continue to search for ways to increase the support mechanism so that additional programs can be supported. In this month’s column, I did not cover the programs supported. They were outlined in my May column and are also available on the IAFP Web site. Surely, you may contact me if you have any questions regarding the IAFP Foundation and I will be glad to assist you on either a corporate level or as an individual.

Thanks to all who are actively supporting the IAFP Foundation!