LEXINGTON – God’s Pantry Food Bank has been named a Four-Star Charity by Charity Navigator for the fifth consecutive year, a distinction earned by only five percent of charities rated by the organization have earned. Charity Navigator’s definition of a Four-Star Charity is one that “exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in its cause.”

“We strongly believe in being good stewards of the financial gifts given to our organization,” Marian Guinn, God’s Pantry Food Bank CEO, said. “While a Charity Navigator rating is not required, we believe it is a powerful tool, both to help donors make educated decisions on where to donate, but also to help us maintain the highest standards and practices.”

Charity Navigator rates charities by evaluating two broad areas of performance - financial health and accountability & transparency. Its ratings are intended to show philanthropic givers how efficiently Charity Navigator believes a charity will use their support today, how well it has sustained its programs and services over time and its level of commitment to being accountable and transparent.

This year’s ranking is broken down into many distinguishing factors, all available online, including the fact that 96.3% of the Food Bank’s budget goes directly into the programs and services of the organization.

“We are committed to feeding hungry families and reducing hunger in Kentucky,” Guinn said. “We cannot do the work we need to without the support of generous financial donors. We are committed to operating with integrity and transparency and this rating should give our supporters and potential supporters the peace of mind to know that when they give their financial dollars to us, we are utilizing them efficiently and effectively.”

The Food Bank recently closed its fiscal year having distributed more than 22.8 million pounds of food and grocery items to more than 211,000 people in need across its 50-county service area. More than 7.1 million pounds of that total was fresh produce.