Become an Agency Clearinghouse Member

The Food Bank for Monterey County is an important resource to approximately 90 social service agencies throughout Monterey County. We encourage agencies with food programs to stretch the dollars they spend on food by becoming an Agency Clearinghouse member agency.

Member agencies visit our warehouse to select food as they would at their local grocery store. These agencies select from a wide variety of packaged food and pay a shared maintenance fee of nineteen cents per pound for the products they select. Fresh produce, bread, and other perishables are available without a shared maintenance fee. Our shared maintenance system provides agencies with a low-cost source of food and helps to defray our operation costs. Our supplies include fresh produce, bread, canned foods, and frozen products. We also purchase some items from wholesalers, in which staple items are available to agencies at a low cost.

To be eligible for membership in the Food Bank for Monterey County’s Agency Clearinghouse Program, an organization:

• Must possess 501( c )3 IRS status and a final-determination letter from the IRS granting 501( c )3 status. A tax identification number or state certification is not sufficient.
• Must confirm that the agency serves low-income clients, the ill, the needy or infants, and that donated products will be used to care for these clients; must confirm that clients will not be charged for Food Bank for Monterey County products.
• Must confirm that Food Bank for Monterey County products will not be exchanged for money, products, services or client participation in activities. Food distribution cannot be contingent on attendance at a religious service.
• Welcome participants regardless of race, national origin, religious affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, age or handicap status.
• Must agree to inspection and monitoring by the Food Bank for Monterey County.
• Must adhere to Food Bank policies regarding storage and distribution of donated product; must adhere to all Food Bank policies, to the participating agency agreement and to the guidelines outlined in the agency manual.

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