Food Bank Mission Statement

The Indiana University South Bend (IUSB) Student Food Bank requires a statement of intent and concept to guide the organization, and inform the individuals who receive goods and services from the organization. This can be accomplished by identifying the mission, vision, and organizational values. The mission is a sentence describing a company's function, markets and competitive advantages: a short written statement of your business goals and philosophies. The vision is an aspirational description of what an organization would like to achieve or accomplish in the mid-term or long-term future. It is intended to serves as a clear guide for choosing current and future courses of action. Organizational Values are those beliefs held so strongly that they drive people’s behavior and dictate how people interact with and treat each other. Values, together with their defined behaviors, set the minimum expectation of behavior for everyone in your organization, and help to lay the groundwork for your
company’s culture. There are several well-known organizations that address and provide means to combat food insecurity such as The Food Bank of Northern Indiana and Feeding America that have established a combination of mission, visions, and organizational values.
In addition, student led organizations such as The MSU Student Food Bank have established a mission statement, which represents the organization well and conveys the necessary information that the clientele need. The proposal for IU South Bend Food Bank follows:
Mission: To provide IU South Bend students with supplemental non-perishable food items in times of need to alleviate hunger. Vision: No student attending IU South Bend’s campus should have to endure going without food. Everyone will have access to nutritious and quality food. Organizational Values: Respect: We respect the inherent worth of students and treat them with empathy, fairness, and justice. We accept one another and support diversity of thoughts and
ideas. Integrity: We act with honesty, trust, and openness and deliver on commitments. Our intentions and actions will be transparent and above reproach. Service: We believe service to others is essential to alleviating food insecurity for students. We serve with merit, compassion and receptivity to meet the needs of those with whom seek out our services as well as those who work for the organization. Stewardship and Accountability: We keep faith with the community partners through the efficient and effective use of resources entrusted to us and are mindful that our mission is accomplished through the charity of others.
Policies for Student Organizations There are some IU policies that might have an impact how we, as part of the marketing initiative, proceed with the food bank. It is essential that during the planning phase of our initiative that we understand our rights as students and the rights of the university. In some instances, there are policies that enable the students to right to create a student organization, club, or special event without restriction of purpose which is evident in the IU Code, Part I: Student Rights- Section E. Right to Freedom of Association, Expression, Advocacy, and Publication. The policy states: “Students are free to form, join, and participate in groups or organizations that promote student interests, including but not limited to groups or organizations that are organized for intellectual, religious, social, economic, political, recreational, or cultural purposes.”
The Posting Policy in the 2014-2015 Special Events Manual is another IU policy that the marketing initiative will be need to be cognizant of. The policy is intended to ensure that student organizations and special events follow the same protocol for posting bulletins, posters, placards, flyers, etc. The policy indicates that there is a procedure for submitting materials for approval, designated posting areas for materials, and required information that must be displayed on the material.