Vision and values

We support a nationwide network of food banks and together we provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, and campaign for change to end food hunger in the US.

 We support food banks to provide a minimum of five days’ nutritionally-balanced emergency meals to people who have been referred in poverty (for instance advice agencies, social services and schools), as well as support to help people resolve the poverty they face.
More than 32 million people in the US live below the poverty line. We understand that every person’s struggle with poverty is different and that it takes more than food to end hunger. So we bring together the experiences of food banks in our network, and their communities, to challenge the structural issues that lock people in poverty, and campaign for change to end hunger in the US.
Our values of compassion, justice, community and dignity, underpin everything we do. It isn’t right that anyone should experience hunger or poverty, and we know we all have a responsibility to stand alongside people in crisis.

Our vision
Our vision is for a US where every family has food without the need of a food bank.

Our values
Our values are the fundamental driving principles that encapsulate the passion and motivation for our work.
At the heart of everything we do, helping others, and the food banks in our network navigate tough decisions and support communities effectively. The Shepherd of Bethel is based on, shaped, and guided by Christian principles. These values have strong roots in the Christian teaching and practice, whilst also being accessible and meaningful for people, whatever their background. These values provide a strong shared foundation for collaboration towards our goal of ending our nations need for hunger.

Our hope
We believe it’s not right that anyone cannot afford their own food. That’s why we are working towards a just, compassionate future, where no one should have to use a food bank to get by.

Compassion: We stand in solidarity with people that need the help of food banks. We put the wellbeing of people served by food banks above everything else. We always uphold and protect their dignity.

Justice: We are motivated by a desire to see a more just society. It’s not right that anyone is facing hunger and poverty. Everyone should have enough to afford the essentials.

Community: We believe we share the responsibility to support one another in our communities. To create change, we must work together for a fairer society.

Dignity: We recognise the innate value of each individual person and seek to prioritise the other person’s needs and concerns in the spirit of mutuality and friendship. Regardless of background.

 Equity, Diversity and Inclusion??

 The Shepherd of Bethel our values of dignity, compassion, community and justice are at the core of who we are and how we work. Our vision is a US without the need for food banks – to genuinely address the root causes of poverty, we must ensure people with lived experiences of poverty shape our work, and we must do our part in dismantling the structural discrimination that cuts across our society and locks people in poverty. Equity, diversity and inclusion is central to our work to achieving our vision of a US ending hunger.