“Our mission is to bring together people in need with people wanting to help. By building relationships with local restaurants and nonprofits, we provide individuals with moments of comfort when they need it most.”
Fork A Meal
Our history
As a result, many people have lost their jobs, making it difficult to afford food, and it has put severe pressure on restaurants just to stay afloat. When you take into consideration that 74% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck, this situation becomes even more concerning.
Fork A Meal was inspired by the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020. In most US states, non-essential businesses have been required to close to the public. Many restaurants are still allowed to take orders, but have to deliver the food or offer (curbside) pickup options.
April 2020
Fork A Meal is officially born. At this time, the website is available at https://www.forkameal.com (notice the “.com”), as the legal structure for the organization is an LLC. This is mainly due to the expected “limited” lifespan of this initiative (a few months? how wrong we were…), compared to the timeline to receive a tax-exempt status from the IRS (6-12 months). Go fast, or go home.
October 2020
Discussing with a lot of different people working in the nonprofit world, it appears that the concept behind Fork A Meal is quite unique, and can help families and restaurants over a longer period of time than the COVID-19 pandemic. With the decision to help for the long run, a few changes had to be made. The LLC is converted into a nonprofit corporation, registered in the state of Colorado. With this new status, a Board of Directors is named to lead the strategic (mid-term) and tactical (day-to-day) operations of the organization. The website moves to https://www.forkameal.org. Next step: Receive the tax-exempt status from the IRS.
January 2021
Fork A Meal evaluates a partnership with the Denver Rescue Mission to offer a nice meal to families who successfully complete their Transitional program. In particular, working with the Family Rescue Ministry that provides families and seniors in need with assistance for a long-term housing. Once a family moves out of homelessness and back into permanent housing, they will have the opportunity to celebrate this accomplishment at one of our partner restaurants. The pilot is executed with 12-15 families. If successful, this will become a long-term “benefit” for this program.
June 2021
The Internal Revenue Service recognizes Fork A Meal as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations to Fork A Meal can now be deducted from the donor tax return to the extent provided by law. This major step brings more credibility to the organization, and opens the door for larger donations from individuals and corporations to further augment Fork A Meal’s impact towards families in need and local restaurants.