Need help with purchasing stratagy for small non-profit

I've been volunteering to cook at this social services and treatment center for homeless people. On average they do 50 people for lunch Mon-Fri (less on the weekends because attendance isn't required), a similar number for cold breakfast (almost always small bowl of cereal w/ milk, toast, coffee and oj), and maybe a dozen sack dinners every day.

I'm trying to help them stretch their food dollars, and we're making some progress by doing more scratch cooking and getting some of the clients there to learn cooking skills and help out in the kitchen.

Right now, the more then half meals are frozen entrees (eg family sized stoufers lasagna). They've even been serving canned peas (it's like a personal affront).

They don't have anybody with food service experience working there. I'm told that before the new director arrived, they were only feeding them frozen burritos (only had one microwave). The new director and the person they employ to do the kitchen are really committed and want to do better stuff though. It's kinda frustrating though, because both of them are responsible for so much other stuff, that the kitchen is almost an afterthought. For example, I traded shifts so I could do the St Pats day party for them, and they ran out of salt!.

Anyway, they have a couple vans, so cash and carry aren't a problem. Right now, they're using a combination of Smart and Final, and sometimes Costco. They aren't using Restaurant Depot, but that's in the works.

Mostly, I've been trying to figure out if a once a month (maybe once a quarter) drygoods/paper products/chemicals order with a broadliner would make sense. They've got tons of storage, and they use a lot of paper (they've got around 9 bathrooms!). Would a broadliner even bother with a small account?

Thanks for the help guys! I'll have more updates in the coming weeks. Too bad I can't be there more often.

Gotta run some numbers on lasagna. Maybe do a bechamela instead of ricotta.

Man, I'm getting a little sick and frustrated with this place. Really disorganized and extremely set in their ways.

I think part of the problem is that the employee that got the kitchen job dumped on them, doesn't feel like they can tackle it with confidence, so a lot of stuff, like most of the food purchasing, tends to get left up to her boss. It's like decision making by commitee, but the commitee never meets.

While I was at restaurant depot for another gig, I noticed they are selling ground coffee 15% cheaper then the Folgers they're getting at Smart and Final, among other things.

Not sure exactly how to advocate switching to Restaurant Depot. It would be a pretty serious savings for them.

Right now, I've printed out the circular and highlighted some items of interest. Should I do a cost comparison?

The employee says I'm wasting my time, and that he won't bother.

That's the other thing, I think I've managed to alienate the employee. Food quality aside, she wasn't doing standard shit like putting dates on the food. The boss noticed when I started doing it, and had a coaching session with the employee. He's also complaining about her serving leftovers after too long, etc. I traded a shift so I could put together the food for their cinco de mayo party. Only for 75-100 people, anyone of us could do it in our sleep, but I didn't need her help. So she had time on her hands, and the boss was involved in setting up the dining room, so it she might have thought it didn't look good for her.

I wish I understood people better...

The other thing is that I've hit a couple personal lows here.

The first one is kinda funny, but sad. They get lots of cakes among the day old bakery goods that are donated. The freeze a lot of them, and save it for bdays or what have you. Yesterday, we needed a cake, she pulled one out and had me scrape off the "Happy St Patricks Day!" and shamrock off the top. Since it's may and all.

Second is scary and depressing. Also from yesterday. I'd volunteered to set up the breakfast and do some lunch prep for that day. I'm the first guy there after the security guard this morning, he lets me in, and I get the kitchen ready. And there were 4 5lb chubs of ground meat, and 5 lbs of Italian sausage sitting in the sink. She'd left them out all night to thaw. Between the fridge and pilot lights it gets to 85 and 90 deg F at night in that kitchen when it's locked up and the ac and fan are off. It wasn't a mistake either as she's "done it many times before and there's never been a problem" I'm ashamed to admit, I didn't say anything and prayed for her lucky strike to continue.