BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF APPALACHIA REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
(RFP) FOR SUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM
April 30, 2024
Boys & Girls Clubs of Appalachia
1 Positive Place
Harlan, KY 40806
Key Contact for Questions and Responses:
Ciarra Miller
Nutrition Services Coordinator
606-573-0960
cmiller@bgcapp.club
Introduction:
Boys and Girls Club of Appalachia is requesting competitive proposals from qualified vendors to act as a vendor for the Summer Food Service Program. The objective of this proposal is to obtain vendor services for a 10-week period beginning tentatively May 27, 2024.
Boys and Girls Club of Appalachia requests all prospective vendors to submit proposals as defined in the Request for Proposal (RFP). Proposals should be prepared simply providing a straightforward, concise description of provider capabilities to satisfy the requirements of the request. Emphasis should be on completeness and clarity of content. Unless otherwise stated all proposals will remain valid for a period of 90 days after submission. Proposals are not to exceed 5 pages in length, not including charts, appendices and attachments.
Objectives: To obtain vendors to carry out services related to the Summer Food Service Program, reaching children experiencing food insecurity while school is closed during summer break.
Provisional Calendar of Events:
Evaluation Criteria:
After the final evaluation of the proposals, Boys and Girls Club of Appalachia will make the award to the offeror whose proposal provides the best value, considering both technical and cost factors. Technical and cost factors will be evaluated relative to each other, as described herein. The technical evaluation factors, taken as a whole, are of greater importance than cost or price in determining best value.
Offerors should note that these criteria: (1) serve as the standard against which all proposals will be evaluated, and (2) serve to identify the significant matters which offerors should address in their proposals. Each proposal will be evaluated on the criteria listed below and the criteria will be weighted according to the following allocations:
Essential Criteria: Vendor submitting bids must meet the following:
1. Assurance that the Bidder maintains appropriate insurance and certifications.
2. Assurance that the Bidder is audited by an independent firm. Bidder is able to provide a copy of the most recent audit report, if requested.
Bidder’s confirmation of compliance with the attached Conditions of Tendering, Terms and Conditions of Purchase.
Bidder should at all times comply with existing local environmental legislation and regulations.
The proposal submitted will be the primary document upon which each Bidder will be evaluated. All proposals will first be screened to determine if the vendor meets the minimum qualifications outlined. Proposals that do not meet the minimum requirements will be automatically rejected and may not undergo further evaluation. Boys and Girls Club of Appalachia reserves the right to waive any minor or technical defects or irregularities and reserves the right to reject any or all bids.
Specification of Requirement (Scope of Work):
From the Week of 27-May through the Week of 5-Aug (each child will receive based on their school calendar), Boys and Girls Club of Appalachia (BGCApp) plan to offer non-congregate (home delivery) meals through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) to children experiencing food insecurity in Harlan and Bell counties. It is estimated that non-congregate meals will reach 2,440 children (244,000 meals).
Each child will receive one box every other week of 20 meals (10 breakfast and 10 lunch/dinner meals) delivered directly to their doorstep.
Items that may be procured under this contract(s) include the below. Bidders may bid for some or all of these items.
1) Food procurement (see table below for meal requirements)
2) Packing and loading boxes onto 53’ truck for transport into Harlan and Bell counties, KY
3) Two 53’ refrigerated trailer transportation of packed food boxes into Harlan and Bell counties, KY
4) Refrigerated storage of boxes in Harlan County, KY
5) Delivery of boxes to participant homes via van
6) Reporting of confirmed/missed deliveries each week
7) External monitoring and evaluation of non-congregate project including, but not limited to:
a. Collecting and monitoring data on implementation of program
b. Interviews with implementing partners
Food Boxes (related to #1 above) must contain the following items, meeting SFSP requirements.
Perishable
Shelf Stable
Request for Information:
A. General Vendor Information
1. A summary of any significant changes in management and/or ownership during the past five years.
2. Describe your institution’s customer service philosophy and organizational structure and provide meaningful examples to illustrate.
3. Is the bidder a small, women-owned, minority, hub zone, disadvantaged or veteran-owned business? Fill out the Small Business certification form; (attachment D).
4. Provide a sample contract that the vendor utilizes for public agencies or non-profit organizations, this will not count toward the 5-page limit.
5. References: Include contact information for at least two organizations similar to our own (attachment C).
B. Sample Reports
Conditions of Tendering
Definitions
In addition to the terms defined in the above, in these Conditions, the following definitions apply:
(a) Evaluation Criteria - the award criteria set out in the RFP.
(b) Bidder - a person or organization who bids for the tender.
(c) Goods and/or Services - everything purchased by BGCApp under the contract.
(d) BGCApp - Boys and Girls Club of Appalachia, a non-profit organization with headquarters in 1 Positive Place, Harlan, KY 40831
(e) Specification - any specification for the Goods and/or Services, including any related plans and drawings, supplied by BGCApp to the Supplier, or specifically produced by the Supplier for BGCApp, in connection with the tender.
Late tenders
Tenders received after the Closing Date will not be considered, unless there are in BGCApp’s sole discretion exceptional circumstances which have caused the delay.
Correspondence
All communications from Bidders to BGCApp relating to the tender must be in writing and addressed to the person identified in the Cover Letter. Responses to questions submitted by any Bidder will be circulated by BGCApp to all Bidders to ensure fairness in the process.
4. Acceptance of tenders
BGCApp may, unless the Bidder expressly stipulates to the contrary in the tender, accept whatever part of a tender that BGCApp so wishes. BGCApp is under no obligation to accept the lowest or any tender.
5. Alternative offer
If the Bidder wishes to propose modifications to the tender (which may provide a better way to achieve BGCApp’s Specification) these may, at BGCApp’s discretion, be considered as an Alternative Offer. The Bidder must make any Alternative Offer in a separate letter to accompany the Tender. BGCApp is under no obligation to accept Alternative Offers.
Prices
Tendered prices must be shown as both inclusive of and exclusive of any sales tax chargeable or any similar tax (if applicable).
7. No reimbursement of quote expenses
Expenses incurred in the preparation and dispatch of the tender will not be reimbursed.
8. Non-Disclosure and Confidentiality
Bidders must treat the Invitation to Tender, contract and all associated documentation (including the Specification) and any other information relating to BGCApp’s employees, officers, partners or its business or affairs (the "Confidential Information”) as confidential. All Bidders shall:
· recognize the confidential nature of the Confidential Information;
· respect the confidence placed in the Bidder by BGCApp by maintaining the secrecy of the Confidential Information;
· not employ any part of the Confidential Information without BGCApp’s prior written consent, for any purpose except that of tendering for business from BGCApp;
· not disclose the Confidential Information to third parties without BGCApp’s prior written consent;
· not employ their knowledge of the Confidential Information in any way that would be detrimental or harmful to BGCApp;
· use all reasonable efforts to prevent the disclosure of the Confidential Information to third parties;
· notify BGCApp immediately of any possible breach of the provisions of this condition and acknowledge that damages may not be an adequate remedy for such a breach.
9. Award Procedure
BGCApp will review the proposals to determine, in accordance with the Evaluation Criteria, whether they will award the contract to any one of them.
10. Information and Record Keeping
BGCApp shall consider any reasonable request from any unsuccessful Bidder for feedback on its tender and, where it is appropriate and proportionate to do so, provide the unsuccessful Bidder with reasons why their proposal was rejected. Where applicable, this information shall be provided within 30 business days from (but not including) the date on which BGCApp receives the request.
Exclusion Criteria
Any Bidder is required to confirm in writing that:
· Neither it nor any related company to which it regularly subcontracts is insolvent or being wound up, is having its affairs administered by the courts, has entered into an arrangement with creditors, has suspended business activities, is the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;
· Neither it nor a company to which it regularly subcontracts has been convicted of fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organization, any money laundering offence, any offence concerning professional conduct, breaches of applicable labor law or labor tax legislation or any other illegal activity by a judgment in any court of law whether national or international;
· Neither it nor a company to which it regularly subcontracts has failed to comply with its obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the relevant country in which it the Bidder operates.
Any Bidder will automatically be excluded from the tender process if it is found that they are guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the required information within their tender bid or fail to supply the required information.
Conflict of Interest
Any Bidder is required to confirm in writing:
· That it is not aware of any connection between it or any of its directors or senior managers and the directors and staff of BGCApp, which may affect the outcome of the selection process. If there are such connections the Bidder is required to disclose them.
· Whether or not there are any existing contacts between BGCApp, and it and if there are any arrangements which have been put in place over the last twenty four (24) months.
· That it has not and will not offer pay or give any sum of money commission, gift, inducement or other financial benefit directly or indirectly to any person for doing or omitting to do any act in relation to the tender process.
Terms and Conditions
All bidders are required to comply fully with BGCApp’ terms and conditions.
