Food Bank San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Food Bank

We rely on volunteers like you to help sort, package and distribute healthy food to people in need in San Francisco.

Each year, over 22,000 people contribute thousands of hours to fighting hunger in our community. This support will enable us to distribute 43.5 million pounds of food this year enough for 93,000 meals every day.

The information above can be found on the official website of San Francisco Food Bank. For more details about the organization and to find out how you can volunteer, please visit their website:

How To Volunteer During Covid

Every volunteer experience is a little different. Here are some opportunities you can do as a volunteer:

• Sorting and packing. You can get food ready for distribution. Volunteers inspect and sort food donations, which includes checking expiration dates and cans for rust or missing labels and boxing similar items together for our partner organizations. View our Guidelines video.
• Assisting at no-contact distributions. Help your neighbors feed their families.
• Volunteering from home. Help fundraise or spread awareness. Take our Volunteer Bingo Challenge to help out digitally. Read the rules here.

Open-toed shoes prohibited in all warehouses.

Bay Area Food Banks Experiencing Alarming Volunteer Shortages

Five major Bay Area food banks are calling on the public to help after all the nonprofits reported alarming volunteer shortages in their warehouses and at their food distribution sites.

The food banks, who serve 12 Northern California counties, said that while volunteer rates at sites traditionally slow down slightly between the months of January through March following the busy holiday season, this years drop has been more sudden and extreme as employers, schools, and community groups reinstate stay-at-home policies.

Volunteers are critical for Bay Area Food Banks who estimate they are still serving about a million people every month, said a press release.

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, Alameda County Community Food Bank, San Francisco Marin Food Bank are also reporting an increase in requests for home delivery of free groceries as more community members are forced to isolate due to exposure or illness from the latest Omicron variant.

How to help

Individuals and groups are encouraged to volunteer to sort and box food at your local food banks warehouse or help handing out food at distribution sites located throughout our local food banks service area.

Alameda County Community Food Bank, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley and San Francisco Marin Food Bank are also in need of grocery delivery volunteers.

To volunteer, you must be in good health and follow safety protocols in place at each food bank.

Visit your local food banks website to sign-up and help.

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Its not often that a tech company and a nonprofit have goals that are so closely aligned.

Afresh Technologies, Inc., is a San Francisco-based software publisher whose use of artificial intelligence enables grocery retailers to meet customers demand for produce.

Similarly, the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank is trying to satisfy the basic human need for nourishment, despite a dearth of volunteers to deliver the goods.

So it made sense that Afresh teamed up with the food bank and in November began offering its employees to work on the front lines handing out free staples to hungry families.

Its not peanut butter and baking mix, said Afreshs marketing coordinator Katherine Harris of the bounty, most of which is fresh produce. Its high-quality fresh vegetables and proteins. There are kiwis, oranges, celery and a lot of bananas its beautiful like really healthy, nourishing food.

The groceries also include basics such as rice, potatoes, chicken, tuna and eggs, ingredients that appeal to cultures as diverse as the languages needed to communicate with the families that flock to the giveaways Russian, Tagalog and Korean as well as Cantonese and Spanish, said Cody Jang, associate director of community engagement at San Francisco-Marin Food Bank.

And then theres the broken link in the supply chain.

Want To Volunteer At A Food Bank

Food banks, food pantries, and meal programs in the Feeding America network are continuing to do what they do best provide meals to our communities. Volunteers are critical to providing food to everyone during this difficult time.

Pledge to volunteer with your local food bank and find a volunteer opportunity near you.

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Hunger: A Growing Problem

People in almost every part of San Francisco and Marin, and from all walks of life, can find themselves unable to afford all the food they need.

Although the economy continues to improve for some, wages remain stagnant for others in our communities. Rents are rising and so is the cost of groceries. When placed side-by-side with fixed expenses like rent, phone bills, or child-care, food is often the first line to get slashed in a households budget.

17.1 million missing meals in San Francisco and Marin

Our annual Missing Meals Report calculates the gap between the number of meals that are needed by people who are food insecure, and the number of meals that are provided. More specifically, it looks at the annual number of meals provided by the nonprofit sector, the number of meals funded through state and federal nutrition programs, and the number of meals that are purchased by individuals and families through their own resources.

In San Francisco, 5% of meals that are needed are still unaccounted for, and in Marin its 16% reminding us that we still have much work to do to end hunger.

Not only people who are homeless

Children, seniors, unemployed and low-wage workers make up the majority of those struggling with hunger. Less than 20% of people receiving food through the Food Bank network are people experiencing homelessness.

All geographic areas affected

Sandia Partners With Other Doe Labs To Combat Food Insecurity

For students, summer offers a welcome respite from classes, tests and homework. However, food insecurity does not take school breaks, causing many food banks to experience summer as a season of low monetary donations and few volunteers.

To promote support for local food banks during their time of need, Sandia joined forces this year with the other DOE national laboratories in the San Francisco Bay Area: Berkeley Lab, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

With this partnership, known as the Bay Area Charitable Giving Initiative, each lab dedicated a month of activities to help combat food insecurity throughout the region.

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Frequently Asked Questions And Answers

What are some popular services for food banks?

Some popular services for food banks include:

What are people saying about food banks in San Francisco Bay Area, CA?

This is a review for food banks in San Francisco Bay Area, CA:

“If a picture is worth a thousand words then this is a novel. Hope 4 the Heart is a food pantry for people in need but the photos show they don’t really care about helping people. If they did, they would not leave food outside in the hot sun to rot and bring in rats and other rodents. This is a major health issue and could lead to people getting sick. This is a regular sight at their facility in Hayward. Who would leave food in open containers on the street and sidewalks for people to pick through??! If you donate food to them, please think about donating to a place that knows how to store food properly. If you use their services, you might need to see a doctor. Stay away from this place. So sad.”

Fertile Groundworks Community Garden

HELPING THEM GROW

On July 26, the Community Involvement team visited the Fertile GroundWorks garden in Livermore. The garden was blooming with a variety of ready-to-harvest crops, including fresh cucumbers that Sandia volunteers helped plant during a spring Sandia Serves volunteering event.

During the visit, Fertile GroundWorks President Teresa Win and Executive Director Brenda Kusler were presented with a $10,000 check from Sandia to continue supporting their mission to grow and distribute more than 20,000 pounds of fresh produce for local communities each year.

READY FOR PLANTINGFOOD FOR THOUGHT

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Give Where You Live: Donate To Bay Area Food Banks

SAN FRANCISCO — During the coronavirus pandemic, no one should go hungry. Families and individuals are struggling more than ever to make ends meet. Households face unemployment or underemployment, and more Bay Area residents must choose between paying bills and other basic necessities like finding healthy, fresh, nutritious food.

Please Give Where you Live and help local children and families get the nourishment they need to stay healthy!

Let’s help our dedicated food banks do what they do best: feed people. Together, we can Build a Better Bay Area!

Find your local food bank and donate today:

Stay Safe While Volunteering

The health and safety of our food bank volunteers, staff and visitors are our top priority. While volunteering we encourage you to take the following safety measures:

Main Branch

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Interested In Individual Or Group Volunteering Opportunities

Feeding Tampa Bay strives to create volunteer experiences that leave you feeling fulfilled. Individuals and groups are always welcome. Volunteering with us provides a great team-building opportunity for your group to serve together and make a difference in our community.

Groups over 10 volunteers must be scheduled by contacting our Volunteer Services Team. Email us below or call 813-254-1190.

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What Its Like To Volunteer At A Food Bank

Every volunteer experience is a little different. Here are some things you might do as a volunteer:

• Sort and pack food: You can keep the shelves stocked by assembling food boxes for distribution.
• Assist at mobile pantries, drive-thru pantries, and no-contact distributions: Help your neighbors feed their families.
• Deliver meals: With many communities sheltering in place, you can help ensure our most vulnerable neighbors have the food they need while staying safe.
• Glean and garden: Volunteers collect food left in the fields after harvest or help tend the food bank or food pantrys community garden.
• Volunteer from home: Some food banks have moved their volunteer shifts online and are asking volunteers to help fundraise or spread awareness.

Your safety is a top priority. The Feeding America network follows all Center for Disease Control and local guidelines for sanitation, hygiene, and social distancing to ensure staff and volunteers are safe. This may include masks, additional handwashing stations, gloves, reduced group sizes, and other safety precautions.

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Alameda County Food Bank

The Alameda County Community Food Bank has been in business since 1985 with a vision toward a day when we can go out of business. We are the hub of a vast collection and distribution network that provides food for 275 nonprofit agencies in Alameda County. In 2010, the Food Bank distributed 20.1 million pounds of food 52% of it fresh fruits and vegetables.

Since moving into our permanent facility near the Oakland Airport in 2005 and leading the national food bank movement for a ban on the distribution of carbonated beverages, the Food Bank has ramped up distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables by 845%.

Mission

To alleviate hunger by providing nutritious food and nutrition education to people in need, educating the public, and promoting public policies that address hunger and its root causes.

What We Do

Through a network of 275 strategically placed member agencies food pantries, soup kitchens, child-care centers, senior centers, after-school programs and other community-based organizations the Food Bank distributes enough food for 300,000 meals weekly.

• Our systematic approach to alleviating hunger includes:
• One of Californias busiest and most efficient emergency food helplines
• A multilingual food stamp outreach program which serves as the blueprint for programs across the nation
• Dynamic hunger and nutrition education programs
• An innovative advocacy program that promotes policies to benefit low-income residents

Become A Volunteer Captain

• Be an established volunteer with SHFB and have at least 100 volunteer hours
• Have helped out in all areas: sorting, production, etc.
• Attend a Food For Thought tour. Sign up at www.FeedHopeNow.org.
• Be available at least once a week and be at least 18 years old
• Be flexible and help out in the areas that are most needed
• Be able to provide directions to our volunteers
• Be able to utilize a manual pallet jack
• Have a desire to help make projects run smoothly and effectively all while the volunteers are enjoying themselves

Please note:

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Help Us Meet The Increasing Needs Of Seniors And Families

Our community is facing an unprecedented need for food donations and deliveries. Help JFCS keep our Food Banks full throughout the Bay Area and ensure we have essential supplies for all those in need.

Simple steps for helping right now include:

1. Add extra items to your grocery cart and drop them off in person outside of your local JFCS office. We are currently open: Monday Friday, 9 am 5 pm. Our food Bank locations are:

Themost needed items now are:

• Paper bags to deliver groceries in
• Tomato products of any kind including spaghetti sauce
• Canned vegetables
• Canned chili, stew, or pasta meals
• Paper towels and toilet paper

Thanks to generous donations from our community, produce and some dairy products are being supplied by Greenleaf for all our JFCS food banks.

**While all donations are so appreciated, we cannot accept highly perishable dairy items such as milk, cottage cheese, and other soft cheeses. Thank you.

2.Order via the online delivery of your choice and send to your local JFCS office, c/o JFCS Food Bank. Locations listed above. Please note that deliveries must take place Monday Friday, 9 am 5 pm. Please include a gift note with your info so that we can thank you for your donation!

Irina Klay

Provide Volunteer Engagement Opportunities In Hopes To Build Up The Communities They Live In

In 2021, Peninsula Food Runners provided more than 2,924,883 million pounds of free food to families in need. In any given week, we deliver over 52,000 meals to shelters, pantries, food banks, schools, homeless programs and low-income families. We are adding restaurants, caterers, supermarkets, food service providers and corporations every day who donate surplus food in the San Francisco Bay Area. We provide a free service to pickup and drop off for our donors and recipients with the help of over 600 volunteers and staff. Our recipients can expect food on a weekly basis.

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How To Volunteer Or Donate To Your Local Food Bank

SAN FRANCISCO Even before the Coronavirus pandemic hit, hundreds of thousands of Bay Area families were already stretched beyond their financial limits, often forced to choose between buying groceries, paying the rent, or buying medicine.

Across the Bay Area, the need for food assistance is unprecedented and growing. Collectively, Bay Area food banks estimate that they are now serving about a million people each month.

Throughout the country, food banks are facing an additional challenge on top of increased demand: surging food prices and supply chain issues. Due to inflation, some nutritious staples are now costing shoppers and food banks considerably more than they previously did.

This year, many of us will celebrate the holiday and enjoy a special meal with our families and friends. We must ensure that all our neighbors can do the same, said Barbara Abbot Vice President of Supply Chain for the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. We have worked hard to overcome the barriers caused by the supply chain to meet the increased need for food assistance since the pandemic, but it puts tremendous strain on our financial resources, and our volunteer capacity is over-extended.

In these challenging times, food banks help provide a lifeline to those facing hunger by offering a number of free food resources.

Please join us in the fight against hunger. Here are a few ways you can help.

You can make a cash donation to your area food bank:

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How Do I Get My Community Service Hours Signed Off

Please bring any community service paperwork to the kitchen when you volunteer. We only sign off on hours the day they are completed. We do not sign off on hours at later dates due to the amount of volunteers that help us serve everyday.

A Note About Covid

Were grateful for all of the help were receiving at Goodwill and SJ Vietnamese Seventh Day Adventist Church. Were practicing COVID-19 protocols, all while feeding the need.People volunteering with essential services organizations can continue to volunteer with us. Youll need to go directly to the site from your home and return home upon completing your volunteer task. We will not allow volunteers to enter our facilities from a gathering or after making a stop along the way. We kindly ask that individuals over the age of 65 or those with an underlying chronic condition please refrain from signing up to volunteer with Loaves & Fishes until further notice. We hope that this is a short-term solution, and we are looking forward to having everyone back volunteering with us soon. Thank you for all you do!

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