Author: Cady Osgood-Otis

Hold The Coffee: A Donor Story

February 22, 2017

Please forgive Amy Lawson if she seems a little “low-energy” at her next photo shoot.  She has decided to disrupt her regular coffee habit for a cause.

The 41-year-old make-up artist recently worked on an ad campaign for the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and was so impressed with the entire operation, and with the mission to feed people in need, that she couldn’t help herself: “I just had to become a donor.”

And it’s not just a one-time gift either.  Due to her experience, Lawson now donates $10 every month and couldn’t be happier.

HOLD THE COFFEE 

“It’s such a cliché’ yet it’s so true.  With all the coffee I drink, its easy to see how cutting back on a couple of cups a month could really make a difference,” she said. “Even if it’s $10 dollars a month, you sometimes don’t know just how many people you could feed with that.   Don’t get me wrong, a one time donation is great, but people are hungry all year long.”

Lawson learned at an early age that giving back is almost a duty.  Her mother grew up in Korea right after the Korean War, and her father was the son of a coal-miner with 12 brothers and sisters.

“They both were extremely poor. My mother didn’t have any social-services programs where she grew up.  And my father recalls eating cheese and Christmas hams provided by the government,” Lawson said. “They literally would have died if not for the generosity of others.”

Although she never experienced poverty herself, Lawson was always taught to be considerate of people who don’t have access to food.

ITS SO EASY

So here she is now, doing what a lot of people do when they want to give back.  She’s skipping that latte’ and using the money to support her neighbors in need.  “It’s easy to do, the money is automatically deducted out of my account each month, and I don’t even notice it, yet I know that it will impact someone else’s life so much.”

It certainly does. Ten dollars can be turned into 50 dollars worth of food at the Food Bank.

If you would like to become a monthly donor like Amy, visit our donate page here.

Shelley’s Story | “So Much Love”

February 22, 2017

Shelley is a teacher at the YMCA, which recently recognized her as Employee of the Year. She is a pillar of strength in our community, and we treasure her volunteer service. You might recognize her from our ad campaign around the city.

“They call me the Bread Lady because I’m often the one distributing the loaves of bread at the Casa de Barro food pantry in San Francisco. Sometimes someone will ask for a second loaf because they have kids to feed, and it breaks my heart because I have four children of my own.

I first got involved with the Food Bank because one day I was riding the bus, and it stopped at the Casa de Barro Church. I saw a long line of people, and when I asked what was happening, someone told me they were providing free food.

I wasn’t working at the time, so I returned the following week to receive food. The way I was treated there touched my heart so much that I knew I wanted to be a part of this group. One man took my bag of food and helped me down the stairs and someone else held my hand. There was so much love.

So I asked to volunteer. Ever since then, I’ve been coming almost every Saturday for almost eight years. Through volunteering, I’ve discovered another side of myself: how compassionate and loving I can be. The food pantry allows me to reach out to others, and it feels really good to be of service.

Meeting people has always been a big part of my life, and volunteering has opened me up to whole new group of people.  At Casa de Barro, we have social gatherings and share each other’s cultures. We swap recipes, share each other’s food, and I’ve even picked up some Spanish. For me, the pantry is a loving place where I can help care for others and I get so much love and appreciation in return.”

 

 

 

Food For All – A Message from Paul Ash

February 7, 2017

A message from San Francisco-Marin Food Bank Executive Director Paul Ash

Dear Neighbors,

We want you to know that no matter what is happening in our country, you are welcome at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and throughout our partner network. We will continue to provide nutritious food to residents of Marin and San Francisco regardless of their citizenship or immigration status.

In recent weeks, the United States of America has experienced some of the biggest political demonstrations in a generation. This is a time of immense change and, for some, great fear. We want to reassure you that when you access food through our programs, we will never ask for or share information about your immigration status, and we have safeguards in place to protect your personal information.

At the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, we care about one thing above all – that no one in our community goes hungry. We believe everyone in our community should be able to obtain enough nutritious food in a dignified manner to support the health and well-being of themselves and their families.

As always, we are committed to provide food for all.

Sincerely,

Paul Ash

>>> We invite you to share your story and thoughts in the comments section below.

 

最新訊息出自於三藩市–馬連食物庫執行董事，Paul Ash

為所有人提供基本的溫飽。

 

敬愛的市民，

我們希望你知道，不管我們國家現在發生什麼事，三藩市–馬連食物庫無任歡迎你參與我們或與其他機構合作提供的服務。我們會繼續向三藩市和馬連縣的居民提供有營養糧食， 不論你是公民或移民身份。

最近，美國經歷了這一代前所未見的大規模政治示威活動。

對於近日來的巨大改變，引起了部分市民不少的憂慮。

我們向各位保證，當你參與我們提供的服務，我們絕不要求或分享有關你的移民資料。另外，我們會確保你的私人資料獲得足夠保障。

三藩市–馬連食物庫最重視是–沒有人面臨飢餓困境。

我們至誠相信每一個人都應該有權獲取有營養糧食來維護自己及家人的健康。

一如既往，我們向所有人承諾提供有營養糧食。

 

敬啟，

Paul Ash

 

Un mensaje de Paul Ash, Director Ejecutivo del Banco de Alimentos de San Francisco-Marin

Comida Para Todos

Estimados Vecinos,

Queremos que sepa que no importa lo que esté sucediendo en nuestro país, usted es bienvenido en el Banco de Alimentos de San Francisco-Marin y en toda nuestra red de organizaciones asociadas. Seguiremos entregando alimentos nutritivos a los residentes de Marín y San Francisco sin importar su estatus de ciudadanía o inmigración.

En las últimas semanas, los Estados Unidos ha experimentado algunas de las mayores manifestaciones políticas en una generación. Este es un tiempo de cambios inmensos y, para algunos, de gran temor. Queremos asegurarle que cuando usted recibe alimentos a través de nuestros programas, nunca pediremos o compartiremos información acerca de su estado migratorio, y tenemos medidas de seguridad para proteger su información personal.

En el Banco de Alimentos de San Francisco-Marin nos preocupa una cosa sobre todo: que nadie en nuestra comunidad tenga hambre. Creemos que todos en nuestra comunidad deben ser capaces de obtener suficientes alimentos nutritivos de una manera digna para apoyar la salud y el bienestar de ellos mismos y sus familias.

Como siempre, estamos comprometidos a proporcionar comida para todos.

Atentamente,

Paul Ash

Make the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice

January 31, 2017

Thanks to our generous supporters, the Food Bank will distribute a little more than 49 million pounds of food in the coming year – providing over 30,000 low-income families with nourishment each week.  But our mission is so much more than just receiving and distributing food.  We have a team of nutrition education experts, hard at work, developing new programs aimed at teaching participants how to make the most of the healthy food they receive on a weekly basis.

“Our goal is to make the healthy choice the easy choice for neighbors who receive food assistance,” says Molly Burke, the Food Bank’s Nutrition Education Program Manager.

She is particularly excited about the launch of two pioneer programs in 2017.  One centers on teenagers and the other will focus on pregnant women, new moms, and caregivers.

“Teens Tackle the Kitchen” is a 4-week, interactive series that will engage teens in healthy competition to make the healthiest, tastiest meals and snacks they can using Food Bank ingredients.

“By making our cooking workshops fun and competitive, we’re hoping to engage teens more effectively,” said Burke.  “Learning how to cook healthy food from scratch encourages teens avoid unhealthy, processed foods and is a great skill that they can carry with them into adulthood.”

Senior Nutrition Education Coordinator Nalleli Martinez will head up the Food Bank’s other new program, “Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies.” It will encourage new mothers to think about nutrition not only for themselves, but also for their babies during one of the most important and often hectic times of transition in their lives.

“We know that good health depends on good nutrition right from the start,” said Martinez. “Our aim is to foster smart choices and behaviors that can boost mothers’ health, their babies’ health, and the health of their entire family moving forward.”

 

Healthy Food, Healthy Mind

January 31, 2017

As she sat quietly on a bench, inside the gymnasium at the Ingleside Community Center — a bag of groceries by her side — Denise Venegas uttered the words she has been meaning to say for months: “Thank you for making me whole again.”

It was quite a relief for the San Francisco woman who experienced a parents’ worst nightmare 16 years prior. Two of her children died, and in the days, weeks, and months afterwards, her life became a blur.

“I simply forgot who I was. I had a great job at the post office, and one day I just forgot to go to work, and I forgot to take care of myself!” she said.

For the next several years, she lived a very dark existence filled with pain, which led to drug use, domestic violence, and eventually homelessness. Little did she know that someone would come along and change her life for the better.

San Francisco-Marin Food Bank Pantry Coordinator SuKei Lao remembers leaving the Ingleside Food Pantry one day back in January 2016. Denise was sitting on some steps nearby.

“She looked sad, and I thought that maybe I could help, so I asked if she was hungry and interested in getting free, fresh produce,” Lao said.

Reluctant at first, Denise eventually agreed. Soon, she was enrolled at the Ingleside Pantry and began receiving fresh groceries every Thursday.

Nearly a year later, Lao ran into Denise at the pantry.

“I didn’t recognize her until she asked me if I remembered when I helped her,” said Lao. “Then I realized it was Denise, and she looked amazing! Much healthier than I remembered.”

Denise can’t believe her own transformation and chalks it up to all the fresh fruits and veggies she receives at the pantry.

“After my ‘episode,’ I didn’t know how to shop for healthy food for myself,” she said, fighting through tears.  “Now I sleep better, I feel better, I lost weight in a good way…not by eating less, but by eating better food. I got my dignity back, my self-respect.”

That food, coupled with a stable home and a new dog, have all come together to help return her mind, body, and spirit.

Concrete Solutions for Reducing CalFresh ‘Churn’

January 23, 2017

State leadership is needed to implement modern solutions.

In our previous posts, we detailed why CalFresh ‘churn’ is such a big deal – it’s destabilizing for people on the program, expensive for administrators, and all too common.

So what to do about it?

If you were going to create a renewal process for a service or subscription, how would you do it?  What user-friendly features would you include to ensure that everyone could complete the process without lapsing and losing services?

Maybe you would use text and email reminders, instead of snail mail. Even better, put it all online, where all subscribers have to do is indicate if anything has changed since their last renewal. In an ideal world, everything would be done over the phone or online at the subscriber’s convenience. Frankly, in the modern world, none of this is too much to expect.

Unfortunately, the CalFresh renewal process is nothing like this. Clients typically get one letter by mail telling them their deadline for renewal is imminent, but the letter is difficult to understand and the requirements (submitting documents and completing an interview with county staff) are designed for the convenience of the county office, not the person in need of assistance. Not surprisingly, statewide 31% of people with a CalFresh recertification due don’t complete the process successfully. (Read our last blog post about how recertification works).

We have been digging in on this issue and have identified some common-sense solutions. Below are our top recommendations – and the research to support them — to make renewal more modern and user-friendly. We recommend that the state of California and counties work together to implement them.

  • Modernize the process for interview scheduling: ‘Modernizing the CalFresh User Experience’
    • Allow clients to schedule their own interviews for times that work for them – rather than the county assigning pre-determined interview times. Or, even better:
    • Offer ‘on-demand interviews’ so that clients can simply call the county phone number during regular business hours, and ask for an interview over the phone in that moment. This would eliminate scheduling challenges entirely.
  • Modernize communication methods between clients and the county:
  • Make it all user-friendly and intuitive:
    • Simplify bureaucratic forms, so that paperwork is always clear and easy to understand. Social and Behavioral Sciences Team of the Executive Office of the President, 2016 Annual Report

At the end of the day, we know that what gets measured gets done. So, we took county-level churn data and analyzed it over time, to help us see where there are successes and where they may be trends. Tableau visualizations of churn data by county.

The State should be doing the same thing. The problem is, the state doesn’t have the best data, and it has to rely on county-generated reports – with no way to verify or check their accuracy. At a minimum, the state should:

  • Collect monthly churn data reports from counties, that highlight certain important churn metrics. CDSS (California Department of Social Services) is developing the report format right now, and we have already made recommendations about what should be included. ‘Measuring Churn‘
  • Collect the raw, full data set every quarter – not just a selective monthly report. In order to fix churn statewide, the state needs the raw data and the opportunity to analyze it on a deeper level.
  • Offer technical assistance to counties to implement and assess the effectiveness of churn reduction strategies, starting with simplifying and streamlining the interview scheduling system, modernizing how clients receive reminders, and implementing telephonic signature options.

If the State takes the lead on implementing modern solutions and improves its collection and analysis of churn data, we know we’ll move the needle.

In case you missed them, here are the other posts in this blog series about CalFresh churn:

Post #1: CalFresh ‘Churn’ Means More Missing Meals in SF and Marin

Post #2: The Steep Cost of CalFresh ‘Churn’

Post #3: CalFresh ‘Churn’ Fueled by Outdated, Inadequate Processes

Everyday Heroes at the Food Bank

January 13, 2017

Story and photographs by Marilyn Englander, Food Bank volunteer and founding head of REAL School Marin

Joe, the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank Community Engagement Coordinator, fondly calls them “The Sustainers.” He explained to me how a loyal group of volunteers faithfully shows up every week to help in the warehouse.

There is the Monday gang, and the Tuesday gang, Wednesday and Thursday groups. But many Mondays are also Tuesdays, and some come all four days. Their volunteer efforts equal the work of more than two full-time paid employees. Without them, the Food Bank could never get so much food out to the neighborhood pantries for neighbors in need.

Andy drives all the way from Vallejo, and Kevin takes a 30-minute bus ride from Mill Valley, then walks two miles on foot. Sandy always brings mouth-watering cookies to share during the morning break. They secretly plot birthday celebrations for fellow volunteers, everyone joining in to serenade as the honoree blushes. Starting out strangers, slowly they have become the backbone of the Novato operation, and also a community to each other.

I had decided to volunteer on a whim, choosing a slot open on the Food Bank website calendar. I assumed everyone did the same: once in a blue moon, we’d consider giving our time. The first day I turned up, I had no idea I was sorting, packing and stacking food alongside real experts. But I certainly admired Bryan’s skill as he rapidly assembled and taped boxes. Betty had mastered sorting slippery packages of frozen meat, and Peggy tirelessly leaned over and over again into a deep bin to retrieve heavy cans of beans. Mary had the wash-and-sanitize station under strict control. Jacky was there five days a week running the “shopping” area where small nonprofits come to choose supplies for their pantries.

The Sustainers exude enthusiasm and drive as they tackle each three-hour shift. You would imagine they were competing in an Olympic challenge, they show such focus and efficiency. They chat a little, but mostly it is a joyful frenzy: bag 300 pounds of pasta before noon, label 1200 jars of instant coffee — and get those labels on straight! One time we dug through 20 bushels of green peppers in 30 minutes, checking for blemishes before boxing them up for the pantries. It’s grunt work, but with the Sustainers in the lead, it’s as if we’re kids playing in a sandbox. And they do it day after day, week after week — heroes guaranteeing everyone gets to eat.

Feeling inspired?  Learn more about volunteering and sign up > sfmfoodbank.org/volunteer.

Video | Happy New Year 2017

January 12, 2017

As we embark on a New Year at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, we want to recognize the accomplishments you helped make possible. With the support of thousands of volunteers, donors, and partners, we nourished nearly a quarter of a million neighbors last year. Thank you! We hope you are as excited and energized as we are for 2017.

Joe’s Story | Dedication and Spirit

January 5, 2017

From the first meeting, you know Joe has a background in performing comedy. Funny, quick with jokes and full of antics, his energy is upbeat and infectious. He emanates positivity.

So it is a big surprise to hear his story — the tough times he endured before he started to work at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, where he manages volunteers as well as food donations at the Novato warehouse.

Two decades ago, Joe was immersed in a successful career in computers, doing tech support and later testing sophisticated accounting software. Then, one day, the industry shifted, and Joe’s position was outsourced overseas. His career of 17 years came to a screeching halt.

Undaunted, Joe set out to find other work, first in his industry and later relying on the ingenuity every actor must have in his arsenal. But restaurants wouldn’t hire someone who didn’t speak Spanish, and service stations no longer employed folks at the pumps. It was 2008. The recession had just hit. Every job opening big or small was swamped with 100 applicants.

Things got rough for Joe and his wife. Every day he scanned Craigslist for jobs. Even with his wife’s salary as a registered nurse, expenses began to pressure them. Plunging from full-time employment to joblessness was a huge blow.

The demoralizing hunt for work crawled on for a year and a half, and the Food Bank became a lifeline. Never had Joe imagined how grateful he would be for the simple gift of walking into a pantry and being greeted with warmth as he filled a bag with groceries. So, before long, he too began volunteering at the Food Bank — to give back while he continued to look for work.

In a stroke of luck, a position in the Novato warehouse opened up. Joe jumped at the chance. At age 57, Joe had to learn a lot of new skills. There he was, a confirmed vegetarian, sorting donations of frozen meat every day! But he felt motivated by the contribution he was making, and thankful to be earning a living again.

Seven years later, Joe has moved up to be Food Bank Community Engagement Coordinator, and clearly loves his work. He makes volunteers howl with laughter as he plays air guitar or clowns around in his hair net. He inspires them with his dedication and spirit.

Story and photographs by Marilyn Englander, Food Bank volunteer and founding head of REAL School Marin

Steer Your Shopping Cart Toward Smart Choices

January 4, 2017

By Nalleli Martinez, Senior Nutrition Education Coordinator

Navigating a grocery store can be overwhelming, especially if you have a limited budget. With aisles and aisles full of favorite foods and tempting treats, all packaged beautifully, it can be easy to stray from your shopping list and go over budget.

We can help! Our Nutrition Education team has gathered some simple strategies to help you navigate grocery stores and steer clear of techniques that stores use to “nudge” customers into buying more or different items than planned. By being aware of the techniques used by grocery stores to “nudge” us into choosing certain products, you can avoid overspending while making “the healthy choice, the easy choice.”

Follow these simple tips to make sure that you are getting the biggest bang for your buck.

  • Stick to the perimeter of the grocery store: Here you can find the fresh and wholesome options that tie into our daily food group recommendations of fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and protein.
  • Avoid shopping the center aisles: These aisles are usually stocked with prepackaged foods that tend to be highly refined, meaning they have higher amounts of sugar, salt, and fats. Try making these once-in-a-while choices vs. every-day choices.
  • Remember that products are placed strategically: Grocery stores place items at eye-level that they want you to buy most, so they tend to be pricier. You can usually find less expensive options and store brands of the same product placed lower on the shelf. Don’t fret – compare ingredients and you can see that the majority of the time, they are identical.
  • Buy items close to their “expiration” dates: These items tend to be on a separate sale table or shelf. Expiration dates (also called code dates) are recommendations for peak flavor and quality. They are not safety dates. These dates are used by grocery stores to keep product moving, and the products that are rotated out can last a lot longer than their code dates (see attached code date extension flyer). Choosing items that are close to their code date can help you find good food at bargain prices. It has the added bonus of helping reduce food waste.

Our Nutrition Education team shares these same tips in workshops with our pantry participants. It’s all part of our approach to help participants make the healthy choice, the easy choice.

Want more tips like these? Check out our recent blog post, “Six Tips for Shopping on a Budget,” and join our email list.

Coming up – “Healthy Nudges: Making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice.”  Nudges aren’t necessarily bad. As a matter of fact, we are working on incorporating healthy nudges into our very own Food Bank shop floor and at our community pantries. By utilizing these techniques that are commonplace at grocery stores, we are encouraging individuals and families to choose seasonal produce and to try new, different food items.