Food Bank Milestone | Paul Ash’s 30th Anniversary

April 10, 2019

In the land of food banking, you won’t find too many people with the institutional knowledge and experience of our executive director, Paul Ash.

Paul joined the then San Francisco Food Bank when it was just getting off the ground – April 1st, 1989 to be exact.  Fortunately for us, this was no April Fool’s Joke. And even more fortunate is the fact that Paul never left!

He’s been a guiding light for ending hunger for so many years, but don’t take our word for it.  Check out what others are saying about Paul and add your own message in the comments section below.

“For over 30 years, Paul has dedicated his career to serving hungry residents in San Francisco. We celebrate not only his commitment to supporting our underrepresented communities, but also his steadfast leadership of one of San Francisco’s most important institutions.”
-San Francisco Mayor London Breed

“We congratulate Paul Ash on his 30th anniversary with the Food Bank.  Paul Ash has been for these decades an essential partner with GLIDE in our mutual commitment to alleviate suffering, hunger and food insecurity.  Paul is a relentless warrior for the poor and those who are pushed to the margins of our society.  We extend our gratitude and admiration and love to Paul Ash.”
-Rev. Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani, CoFounders, GLIDE

“Cheers to you, Paul!  When you joined the food bank it was just a small but mighty team in a dilapidated warehouse on 3rd street, distributing less than a million pounds of food a year and operating in the red. But you had a belief that access to food is a basic human right and a vision for how to grow the organization to the tremendous community leader it is today. You were always generous with your time, and a leader at the state and national level.  You are also a mentor to many current leaders in the food bank network (Paul is the only ED who can say three current food bank CEOs are former direct reports). Creative and disciplined, you have always kept the organization focused on how it can corral any available resources to have the biggest impact on ending hunger, and that is a very special talent.”
-Leslie Bacho, CEO of 2nd Harvest Food Bank of San Jose and San Mateo

“When I started working for the Food Bank we were distributing about 3 million pounds per year. Paul was just a couple of years into the job and already forming his vision for the organization.  The first thing I noticed was he had the ability to always pick the opportunity that fit with the Food Banks vision.  It made our growth possible with the limited funding available. His vision still endures today as we distribute close to 50 million pounds of food per year.
-Gary Maxworthy, Former Board Member, creator of the state’s Farm to Family program.

“Congratulations Paul…you have done an amazing job transforming the then San Francisco Food Bank from a very small, but needed, organization in the late 80s to a Bay Area powerhouse charity that now serves over 200,000 people in San Francisco and Marin each year. It would be impossible to quantify just how many lives you changed and saved in your tenure, but it’s a lot and you should be  commended for that.”
-Michael Terris, Food Bank Board President & partner at Terris, Barnes & Walters

Please take a moment to leave your own well wishes and recollections about Paul in our comments section below.