Since 2009, SupplyBank.org has been on a mission to change how a wide range of essential goods–from diapers to dental kits, PPE to period products–are distributed to families in need throughout California.
Founded By a College Senior to Provide School Supplies to Low-Income Students
Benito Delgado-Olson founded SupplyBank.org (initially known as K-to-College) in 2009 when he was a student at UC Berkeley. Conducting research for his senior thesis, Delgado-Olson was struck by how inefficiently governments and nonprofits distributed critical resources to society’s neediest residents. SupplyBank.org’s first pilot program distributed 300 school supply kits directly to students in need in Berkeley.
Expanding Beyond School Supplies and Thinking About Systems Change
In its second year, SupplyBank.org organized an event on the UC Berkeley campus where 600 volunteers distributed 10,000 school supply kits. The program worked. But Delgado-Olson quickly realized there were other needs in under-resourced communities and that the organization had to think bigger–about changing how the distribution system for essential goods itself functions. Delgado-Olson determined that by applying the principle of market power to pool resources and purchase in bulk directly from manufacturers–like how food banks buy from farmers and food producers–SupplyBank.org could serve many times the number of individuals with the same financial investment as traditional distribution programs.
Becoming the Largest Charitable Program of its Kind in California
Over the years, SupplyBank.org expanded its scope to distribute everything essential from dental kits and diapers to emergency PPE and cleaning materials. The organization developed strong relationships with manufacturers and a partnership network of more than 700 community-based organizations. By distributing essential resources in partnership with organizations that have pre-existing relationships with people in need, SupplyBank.org is making the system of essential resources distribution more efficient and more impactful. More than 16 years later, SupplyBank.org, now with a staff of 10, has distributed tens of millions of essential items to people in need throughout California. The organization is currently in the process of building its new headquarters––a more than $200 million,100-acre nonprofit community campus on the Oakland shoreline.
