Case Study
Website Copy for a Food Bank Nonprofit
The Client: CalFoods Logistics
A hunger-relief organization supporting food banks in California.
The Deliverables:
❋ Website Copy
❋ Wireframe
“We love the way Jenay made our copy more personable and down-to-earth!”
“It isn’t so boring now and aligns with our mission to connect with the community. We also appreciate Jenay’s clear communication and visual tools, especially the project hub, for easy progress tracking. Working with a copywriter was a new experience for me, and I learned through the process, which was helpful. It was a pleasure to collaborate with a talented, woman-owned business.”
—Charisse Ross, COO of CalFoods Logistics
The Challenge
During the pandemic, the CalFoods Logistics team quickly launched a website while they got the organization off the ground. For three years, it sat untouched while coordinating emergency food assistance took priority.
As a government-funded organization serving food banks, CalFoods didn’t need a site to drive donations or market their services. But visitors still showed up: partners seeking details and food-insecure individuals looking for help. Unfortunately, the website fell short. The copy was vague and lacked heart, the structure was a bit all over the place, and it didn’t clearly communicate that CalFoods worked directly with food banks—not individuals in need.
With their third anniversary approaching, Chief Operating Officer Charisse Ross reached out for a website refresh to celebrate her team’s accomplishments, highlight new initiatives, and provide clear, helpful information for every visitor.
My Approach
As someone who spent years volunteering and interning at my local food bank, I understand the behind-the-scenes effort it takes to keep operations running smoothly. It’s hard, selfless work.
That perspective shaped every step of this project. I crafted copy that felt like a lifeline for the people CalFoods serves: food bankers working tirelessly to support their communities. Each section was written with compassion, intention, and an understanding of their day-to-day challenges—showing them that CalFoods is a reliable partner who truly gets it.
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I kicked things off with an in-depth interview with Charisse, who walked me through the organization’s mission, operations, and audience—primarily food banks and nonprofits that rely on CalFoods to keep their shelves stocked.
From there, I analyzed food bank websites to study their layouts, language, and how they conveyed their community impact. I also audited CalFoods’ existing site, identifying areas that felt overly technical, repetitive, or disconnected from their audience’s needs. We aimed to bridge those gaps and ensure the new copy resonated with visitors. -
CalFoods’ original website was doing too much and not enough at the same time. The important details about their mission and programs were buried or missing entirely. The site lacked a dedicated About page, and overlapping resource pages made it hard for visitors to find what they needed.
I restructured the site to improve clarity and flow. This included adding a new About page to share their story, highlight accomplishments, and move the team directory and partner sections off the homepage. I also consolidated resource pages into two focused sections: one for organizations and one for individuals seeking food assistance. To ensure food-insecure visitors could quickly find help, I recommended adding a map feature to locate nearby food banks.
Since Charisse wasn’t sure if they’d hire a designer for a full redesign, I created a wireframe that worked within the existing layout. This digital sketch showed how to streamline and present key stats and impact in a more prominent, engaging way. -
Every word was written to show that CalFoods isn’t just a vendor but a trusted partner, rooted in decades of expertise and a shared mission. The new copy reflects this with language that acknowledges the challenges food banks face while offering reassurance.
Across the site, jargon was replaced with accessible, empathetic language, and statistics were reframed to highlight tangible successes. These updates created a tone that’s straightforward yet warm—giving food bankers confidence in CalFoods’ reliability and making the website feel like a resource they can rely on.
Together, the messaging creates a sense of trust, support, and urgency—ensuring that visitors see CalFoods as an indispensable ally in the fight against food insecurity.
The Refresh
Here are a few snippets of copy from various pages of CalFoods’s new website:
