The Food Bank is a lifeline for many. As the pandemic raged, food insecurity increased. Facing challenges, we have pushed our warehouse to its limit. Built to distribute 30 million pounds of food annually, this year we will distribute 80 million. We need to expand to ensure people facing hunger don’t have to choose between food or medicine, school supplies, and rent.
Founded in 1987, the Food Bank’s mission is to end hunger in our two counties. Before the pandemic, one in five neighbors was at risk of hunger. Now, the economic crisis has pushed many more to make difficult choices between housing, healthcare, and food.
Each week, through our network of Neighborhood Pantries, emergency Pop-ups, Home-delivered groceries, and other programs, we are serving 55,000 households a week – almost twice as many as we were serving pre-pandemic.
In addition to food distributions, we are working to address the root causes of hunger head-on, from our CalFresh enrollment program to advocating for stronger safety-nets.
DOALDOI got potatoes, eggs, and cabbage. Those are the most important things we use to cook, and the kids love the bananas and other fruit.
The goal of our expansion is to increase the Food Bank’s capacity and be able to serve even more people. Since our San Francisco warehouse was built in 1997, we have moved away from the outdated model of distributing packaged foods, storing and distributing substantial amounts of produce and protein like meat and eggs calls for updated facilities – like additional refrigeration and freezer space. Community need has also grown during that time, forcing us to rent a variety of temporary storage locations which cause inefficiencies in our supply and distribution chains. A larger consolidated facilities will allow us to increase onsite volunteers and the number of community partners we work with for faster and more targeted distribution.
More space and maximizing efficiencies will allow us to serve tens of thousands more neighbors who are struggling to afford food. Before the pandemic, the Food Bank was the vital lifeline for over 141,000 people every week. Today, even more people need our help. After the expansion, we anticipate that we will be able to serve 200,000 people every week and distribute 75 million pounds of food annually.
Yes! We will continue to operate nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week to accomplish our mission. Our building generally opens each day at 2 a.m. and shuts down around midnight. We anticipate operating the same hours throughout the expansion project, although the timing of some functions may shift.
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