Merger Announcement

What a week it has been. I was thrilled that on Monday March 14th we were finally able to announce to all of our staff at St Mary's that we were in merger talks with Westside Food Bank. Early discussions started in the the fall of last year between Bill Ennis and I. At that point it was just talk about whether it made sense or not. We asked ourselves lots of questions and did lots of soul searching, but kept coming up with the same answers. A combined food bank would be able to gather and distribute more food than two independent organizations. That answer alone makes it the right thing to do for the communities we serve.
We realize there are concerns our employees have about what the future holds and how they will be impacted. We have tried to reassure all that the new organization needs every employee from both food banks to meet the future demand of our agencies and the families we work with in our service areas. Over my career I have personally been involved with 4 acquisitions. At the time of those acquisitions, I held various positions from mid-level to upper- level management jobs. I have experienced the right ways and wrong ways to handle the many situations which occur as the merger takes place. Hopefully that experience will enable this effort to come together smoothly with the least amount of disruption.
I have had the opportunity this week to speak personally with many of our largest financial supporters and food donors. Without exception the response has been very positive. Donors who are committed to the mission recognize the value a combined organization can bring to feeding more hungry people.
There is a lot of due diligence work ahead over the next couple of months. The staffs and Boards of Directors from both food banks have to go through a tremendous amount of information to validate the primary goal Bill Ennis and I talked about at the beginning ...."To gather and distribute more food into our community"
Thanks in advance for your support of this effort .....It is the right thing to do!!!!