Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in May 1976.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
92 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
28 people listed on the 990; $518K paid to officers and key staff.
Jennifer Merchant’s $175K as Executive Dir. is at the 83rd percentile of top reported officer pay among 3869 $1–10M human services nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 3 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jennifer Merchant | $174,916 | $161,898 | $91,330 | — | — |
| Tim Brattan | — | — | — | $128,936 | $129,556 |
| Lisa Noble | $83,995 | $103,344 | $93,328 | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Delivers weekly bags of healthy groceries to Santa Cruz seniors.
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Using financial support of general public and several government agencies, revenues generated by its recycling programs, and sales revenue of donated items in its thrift shop, the organization provided over 2 million pounds of food to senior citizens of santa cruz county.
Using financial support of general public and several government agencies, revenues generated by its recycling programs, and sales revenue of donated items in its thrift shop, the organization provided over 2 million pounds of food to senior citizens of santa cruz county.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $9.5M | $9.3M | $243K | $8.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $8.3M | $8.6M | −$249K | $8.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $8.2M | $7.9M | $282K | $8.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $8.6M | $7.5M | $1.0M | $7.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $8.4M | $7.4M | $1.0M | $6.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $6.5M | $6.2M | $326K | $5.7M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (1 part)
Part VI · Governance 14 of 14 board members independent, no flags
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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