When you enter Gary Maxworthy and Radha Stern’s home, the scent of Radha’s homemade oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookies wafts through the air. If you catch them around mealtime, Radha is likely to offer you lunch.
Food is family, friendship, and community to the couple. They’ve made feeding struggling neighbors their personal mission. Their connection to the Food Bank is so strong that when they got married in 2000, they tied the knot at our San Francisco warehouse.
Food Connects Us
“Food is nurturing,” said Radha, who has been a volunteer fundraiser for the Food Bank for many years. “Whether it’s a hot dog or a gourmet meal, food connects us. It’s the time when people come together. But if you’re hungry, you can’t think, and you can’t succeed.”
Both Gary and Radha have experienced scarcity in their lives. Gary grew up post World War II in England where there were often shortages. Radha grew up in a working-class American family, and she was a single mom in her 20’s, struggling to put food on the table.
The couple met later in life in the food brokerage business. After a successful career, Gary decided to retire in his mid-50’s and devote his life to service. He ended up working at the Food Bank and creating the Farm to Family program.
A Food Revolution
Farm to Family radically changed food banking in the Bay Area, and across the country. Before the program, people received mostly canned and boxed food, but Gary convinced farmers to donate their extra produce. Today, the majority of what the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank distributes is fresh fruits and vegetables.
“I’m so proud of the fact that we are able to provide people with healthy, nutritious food both with Farm to Family and the work Radha has done,” said Gary. “Our small ideas have turned into something.”
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