FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions)
1. Where can I find out more about Family-to-Family?
2. How do you find communities to sponsor?
3. How do you decide which families need help the most?
4. What does it cost to sponsor a family?
5. Can I help families in my own community through your program?
6. Can I send a box of food to a family even if I’m not part of a chapter?
7. Can I choose the community I’d like to help?
8. Can I share sponsorship of a family?
9. Can I sponsor a family if I don’t live near a drop-off location and don’t want to start my own chapter?
10. Can I make a one-time donation?
1. Where can I find out more about Family-to-Family?
If our website (www.family-to-family.org) doesn’t answer your questions please e-mail us at famtofamily@aol.com. top
2. How do you find communities to sponsor?
The communities we sponsor are chosen for the most part based on U.S. Census Department poverty statistics. We also research the specific needs of the community through conversations with local school officials, food pantry directors, church leaders, or other outreach workers who have detailed knowledge of the area. top
3. How do you decide which families need help the most?
Local outreach workers are the ones who identify families for sponsorship; families must live under the U.S. poverty line and/or be eligible for food stamps, or children in the family must be eligible to receive free or reduced lunch in their local public school. Family-to-Family relies on our outreach partners for specific knowledge of the needs of families in their communities. A family’s eligibility is partly determined by a detailed initial questionnaire, supplied by Family-to-Family to our community outreach partners, and (as of January 2010) we have begun to require each applicant family to supply a food stamp id card or other documentation of income. top
4. What does it cost to sponsor a family?
We have three family donation programs, and costs for each are slightly different.
Option 1: Chapters of donating families that each shop for and send a box of food to a specific family each month. Costs: approximately $35 per month for food plus about $15 for 30% discounted FedEx ground shipping. TOTAL approx. $50 PER MONTH.
Option 2: Chapters of donating families that each purchase groceries for their specific family through our online cyber-sponsorship program, and who shop for and send “monthly drive items” (non-food basic necessities) for their families together as a group in a 1-2 box monthly chapter shipment. Costs: $31 online per month for food plus $10-$15 per month for optional non-food extra items. Shipping is free through donated free FedEx shipping. TOTAL $40-$45 PER MONTH (can be $31 per month if you choose not to send optional non-food items).
Option 3: Individuals (or individual families) that sponsor a family through our online cyber-sponsorship program and who shop for and send “monthly drive items” (non-food basic necessities). Costs: $31 online per month for food plus $10-$15 for optional non-food items. Shipping for non-food items varies depending on size and weight, but we estimate on average $10 per month. TOTAL: $50-$55 PER MONTH (can be $31 per month if you choose not to send optional non-food items). top
5. Can I help families in my own community through your program?
Our program matches families at a distance (usually families living in different parts of the country) in order to respect the privacy of both sponsoring and sponsored families, so we would not match you with a family in need in your own community. However, if you’re interested in helping local families, we suggest the following: Find the elementary school in your community with a large population of low income children (you can identify a school through the local DSS - Department of Social Services – office or even by asking a local food pantry director.) Once you’ve done that, email us the contact information for the school principal, and we’ll contact him/her to see if we can help through the school. We’ll specifically find out if the students and their families qualify for our program, and if the school would like to participate by becoming a Family-to-Family sponsored community. We would then link families identified by the school to a chapter of giving families from another part of the country. top
6. Can I send a box of food to a family even if I’m not part of a chapter?
Unfortunately, no. Our food box program is chapter based, with the chapter chair responsible for overseeing shipping and maintenance of the families in his/her chapter. It is just too difficult for us to administer and oversee the program with individual families around the country sending individual boxes. An individual family can however sponsor a family through our cyber-sponsorship program, by donating $26 a month to Family-to-Family for groceries purchased locally for a specific family, and then shopping for and sending non-food necessities to that same family through the mail. top
7. Can I choose the community I’d like to help?
Yes. If you’re starting a chapter, let us know which of our sponsored communities you’re interested in helping, and depending on the availability of families, we’ll do our best to match you and your chapter’s donors with families from that community. If you’re joining our cyber-sponsorship program you can choose the community you’d like to help online when you sign up. top
8. Can I share sponsorship of a family?
Yes! Often two families share a sponsorship of a single family in need. That way each of the donor families is responsible for the purchase of groceries and non-food basic necessities every other month, instead of every month. top
9. Can I sponsor a family if I don’t live near a drop-off location and don’t want to start my own chapter?
Yes. You can sponsor a family through our online cyber-sponsorship program. Through this program option you sign-up on our website to sponsor a family for one year in the community of your choice. Your automatically deducted monthly donation of $26.05 purchases groceries locally for your sponsored family. (Other than the $1.05 deducted by Paypal, 100% of your donation is used to purchase groceries.) You can also send “your” family (via your local post office) our suggested monthly drive item each month... things like toothpaste, shampoo, over-the-counter children’s cold medicines and warm winter gloves. Depending on the community, we encourage you to either write a monthly letter to your sponsored family (include in the box or mail separately), or communicate with them by e-mail through the community outreach center where they pick up the food your funds provide. top
10. Can I make a one-time donation?
Yes. Family-to-Family is unfunded and is dependant upon donations for all its operational expenses. In addition, when a donor ends their family sponsorship, we continue to purchase groceries for that family for 3 months or until another donor is found. Individual donations make these grocery purchases possible. To donate to Family-to-Family go to our website www.family-to-family.org and click “Donate”, or mail a check to Family-to-Family, P.O. Box 255, Hastings on Hudson, N.Y. 10706. top
