Section 10.4.1

10.4.1 - Length of Programs' Operation

Responding agencies identified the year their emergency food programs opened. Table 10.4.1 shows the distribution of the length of programs' operation. TABLE 10.4.1

Table 10.4.1

LENGTH OF PROGRAMS' OPERATION

Percentage of Programs That Have Operated for a Specified Period
How Long the Program Has Been Operating	Pantry Programs	Kitchen Programs	Shelter Programs
2 years or less	14.5%	13.7%	6.9%
3-4 years	12.7%	12.0%	7.3%
5-6 years	9.7%	8.8%	8.9%
7-10 years	14.6%	13.3%	12.2%
11-20 years	32.5%	34.5%	38.6%
More than 20 years	16.0%	17.7%	26.1%
TOTAL	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
SAMPLE SIZE (N)	12,468	2,853	2,131

Average length of operation among valid responses (in years)	12	14	16
Median length of operation among valid responses (in years)	10	11	14
SAMPLE SIZE (N)	10,622	2,239	1,738

Source
This table was constructed based on usable responses to Question 3b of the agency survey.

Notes
The percentages presented in this table are based only on usable responses, excluding missing, don't know, and refusal responses. All usable responses were weighted as described in Chapter 3 and in the Technical Appendix volume to represent all emergency food programs of the A2H network. The sample sizes (N) also include missing data.

Missing, don't know, and refusal responses combined are 14.0% for pantry programs, 20.4% for kitchen programs, and 18.2% for shelter programs.

The average length of operation among the pantry programs is 12 years. It is 14 years for the kitchens and 16 years for the shelter programs. Details follow:

14.5% of the pantries, 13.7% of the kitchens, and 6.9% of the shelters have been operating for two years or less.
14.6% of the pantries, 13.3% of the kitchens, and 12.2% of the shelters have been operating for 7 to 10 years.
32.5% of the pantries, 34.5% of the kitchens, and 38.6% of the shelters have been operating for 11 to 20 years.
16.0% of the pantries, 17.7% of the kitchens, and 26.1% of the shelters have been operating for more than 20 years.