FEAD 2018 Catalogue of case studies

Poland – ‘Little Helper’: Using IT to facilitate food aid reporting Federation of Polish Food Banks Images © Justyna Liptak, 2018 WHY? Considering that there are more than a thousand local partner organisations implementing the Operational Programme for Food Aid in Poland, FEAD reporting procedures for the food banks, which act as regional partner organisations, can easily become cumbersome and time-consuming. Yet it is crucial to ensure that such administrative requirements do not hamper the efficient implementation of food aid projects. Food banks and Local Partner Organisations (LPO) therefore need to closely coordinate and harmonise their administrative processes . WHAT? Against this background, the Federation of Polish Food Banks has developed ‘Little Helper’, an IT software that helps to reduce time-consuming reporting processes. Little Helper supports the overall monitoring of the food distribution chain , and in particular helps to keep track of the number of food parcels received by each LPO and, subsequently, the number of food parcels received by end recipients. Little Helper facilitates the transfer and aggregation of data, since all information is contained in a single online spreadsheet, and no longer on paper. The software also cuts down the time needed for the calculation and validation of data, and enhances the accuracy of the reporting, as it reduces the occurrence of errors during the monitoring process. Diverse approaches to supporting Europe’s most deprived: FEAD case studies 2018 44