Tag: Volunteer

Partner Spotlight: Visitacion Valley Strong Families

June 12, 2020

Expanding in the Face of COVID-19

Day in and day out – rain or shine – the Food Bank’s network of neighborhood food pantries helps us provide food to the community. They are the cornerstone of our outreach. While nearly a third of our pantries had to close due to a variety of COVID-19 related challenges, many remain open and are also serving more people than ever before.

One of them is the pantry at Sunnydale Housing. Here, a committed group of long-time volunteers made extended service to their community possible. The pantry is run by Visitacion Valley Strong Families (VVSF), a collaborative lead by APA Family Support Services with three other community-based organizations: Edgewood Center for Children and Family, Samoan Community Development Center (SCDC), and the Asian Pacific American Community Center (APACC).

COVID-19 Brings Added Challenges

Before COVID-19, the pantry served approximately 200 households, mostly locals from the neighborhood. Now, according to Program Director Jack Siu they are serving more than 300 people from all over San Francisco. They work hard to ensure no one gets turned away.

“We always try to have extra bags if people come late, or if they didn’t know about the pantry,” said Mary Ann Pikes, who is one of the volunteer leaders who has come since 2012. “It’s amazing how many people who live here never knew about the pantry. But I can understand, it’s because they were working every day.”

As she points down the street to show where the line used to end compared to where it ends now, she predicts that they will soon need to start ordering more food to meet the growing need.

Sunnydale is a historically neglected public housing area with a particularly high rate of poverty – the average annual household income is only $13,487. Prior to COVID-19, VVSF was running several programs for families in the neighborhood. But now those can’t operate. “Right now, we are focused on basic needs: food, diapers, and clothing,” said Jack.

For local residents who were already struggling, COVID-19 is making things that much harder. Mindy, who has come to this pantry since 2014, explained that with a husband and two teenage sons at home, she goes through food quickly. “They eat a lot as they are getting older.” The pantry always helped her save money and made sure the family got enough to eat.

Now, with the virus, members of Mindy’s family are unemployed, so the fact that her neighborhood pantry could remain open is a huge help. “Beyond just the unemployment, we don’t want to go out to expose ourselves, so coming here is close and easy.” Only half-joking she adds, “but if we could do it twice a week that would be the best.”

Meeting People Where They Are

Long before COVID-19 brought the vulnerability of seniors into our collective consciousness, this pantry started a grassroots effort to deliver food to disabled seniors in their neighborhood.

“About seven or eight years ago, I said ‘if we are going to do this food pantry, let’s get food to the people who need it most,’” said Tim Gras, who works for Edgewood Center and spearheaded the delivery project. He explains, “there was a need and we had a vehicle.”

They now deliver to about 70 people a week and have a long waiting list. “It’s a challenge in this neighborhood because many people qualify for disability and we can’t take this to the hundreds and hundreds of people who we’d like to,” said Tim. “You’ll see at the end of the day our truck will be teetering.”

While the team does have concerns about their health and safety, they are committed to serving their community despite the pandemic. Reflecting,

Tim acknowledges, “in these neighborhoods, just day to day living can be really challenging. Folks are trying to follow guidelines, but it is kind of a different reality in a lot of these public housing neighborhoods.”

For him, if there is an opportunity to help, he is ready to do it. “We are going to keep trying. It is a really critical and necessary service, so we keep trying”

Helping Neighbors

Prior to the pandemic, the pantry was a chance to socialize and catch up with neighbors. Local organizations used to bring coffee and do small cooking demos for volunteers and participants.  Now, it’s a different story. While everyone misses that, it isn’t going to keep them home.

Jack sees this commitment with all the volunteers. “They are more motivated than ever. They are still here, and they come so early. They want to help others,” said Jack.

Partner Spotlight: Q&A with Casey Federico

May 13, 2020

When schools closed in March, parents and caregivers were immediately left figuring out how to balance work, childcare, and homeschooling their children. For the families who relied on the Food Bank every week, there was an added layer of stress – where would they get their groceries? Prior to shelter-in-place, many families could pick up the fresh groceries at their school pantry during drop-off or pick-up. Across San Francisco and Marin, school closures caused 46 of the Food Bank’s Healthy Children food pantries to stop their weekly distributions 

One such pantry was at Dolores Huerta Elementary School in San Francisco’s Mission District. When the school closed teachers and staff quickly worked to identify and contact families to let them know where they could access food. Even with new available pop-up pantries opening nearby, with vulnerable relatives at home, some families could not attend nearby Pop-up pantries. The school’s Family Liaison, Nataly Terrazas; Elementary Advisor, Luis García; School Social Worker, Sarah Volk, and school parent and pantry coordinator, Casey Federico quickly sprang into action matching families who couldn’t leave their house with volunteers who could pick up and deliver food to them. They now have 30 volunteers who trade off delivering to 13 families.  

Last week we caught up with Casey to learn more about what is happening in their community. 

(This conversation was edited for length and clarity.) 

Food Bank: How did you start partnering with us and what have you been doing since the start of the pandemic?   

Casey Federico: At Dolores Huerta, which is both of my daughters’ elementary school, there was an established food pantry every Monday morning. Another parent had coordinated it before me, but their son graduated, so I took on the job of being the pantry coordinator this fall. Even before shelter-in-place, we were seeing a huge expansion in need for the pantry. We grew from a 50–person pantry last year to a 70- or 80-person pantry in November.  

When the shelter-in-place happened, I was in communication with Edith, our neighborhood representative from the Food Bank, and knew everything was shifting. At the same time, I was getting all these texts and messages from families at the school saying, ‘we are about to be out of food’ There were lots of different challenging situations. And so, from discussions with the school team – Sarah, Luis, and Nataly – we found out who couldn’t leave their home for whatever reason and identified 12 families who needed food delivered. We started with a group of volunteers –families who did have transportation and could go to a food pantry and pick up a box and then deliver it to those people’s homes.  

Our School Social Worker, Sarah Volk, is such an inspiration. She was just so careful and thoughtful about confidentiality. Sarah asked families who they’d be okay being paired with, because to have someone know you are receiving food from the Food Bank and then know where you live, that is a big deal. She was just super thoughtful about that and got everybody’s permission all along the line. 

FB: What are you hearing from people in the community now? 

CF: I’m still hearing a lot of people saying, you know, we got this [food], but it isn’t really enough. That is the hard reality. So many families that are part of our community are hospitality workers, etc.  

Another amazing thing that happened is one of our teachers, her fiancé owns a restaurant and every time somebody from the community buys a meal in his restaurant, Toma, he’s donating a meal to a family in need. He’s also delivering meals. So, families are getting additional support from that too.  

But what I just heard from Sarah last week, is just the numbers are increasing so much. So, we are talking about how to meet new needs. It’s really challenging. 

FB: Do you talk to the families you deliver to? How are they doing?  

CF: One thing that’s been really good, is a lot of relationships have been built between the families who are delivering and the families who are receiving. I know everybody’s been sending texts like, I’m going to drop it off. They text, I got it, thank you.  

There’s also been some specific communication around needing health items like toothpaste and soap and tampons, and that kind of stuff. A few volunteers who have the capacity have also been sharing those types of items with families. Many of the families who are delivering are also out of work or running low on food themselves.  

FB: We see this too, it’s incredible how many of our volunteers say, ‘oh yeah, I’m out of work right now and so I have free time and I’m going to do this.’ 

CF: I know, it just takes my breath away. One of the women who is helping deliver said ‘oh yeah, we both lost our jobs last week, but this is just so important, it’s the one trip I have purpose around. I have to do this.’  

FB: Is there anything else that you wanted to share about the experience? 

CF: I think the one thing that the Food Bank really does is bring together a community of people. Almost everybody who volunteered at the weekly food pantry at Dolores Huerta is also receiving a box of food. And so, I think our, our community of folks who really view themselves as part of the system were ready to jump in. The group of parents who help us to set up, fold up boxes, and do all that kind of stuff are really jumping up again to help out, which is cool. 

That sort of friendly, joyful mood that was at our Monday morning pantry translates over and made people feel comfortable to be both asking and giving. I’m so proud to be part of this community! 

 

Partner Spotlight: Q&A with United Playaz

April 21, 2020

In the weeks since we first learned of the region-wide shelter in place order, the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank has rapidly adjusted the way we operate to meet the ever-increasing need in our community. Last week, we served 18K more households than we did four weeks ago, and this number is only growing. 

None of this would be possible without the support of countless Food Bank partners, donors, and community volunteers. 

We recently had the opportunity to see one of these dedicated partners, United Playaz, in action. Every week, United Playaz, a youth-led violence prevention organization, helps staff the pop-up food pantry at Bessie Carmichael Elementary school. Members of the group not only help pack up and distribute food at the pantry, but they proactively stepped up to deliver groceries to 100+ seniors in their community. These are all seniors 65 and over who used to pick up groceries at our weekly pantries. 

We spoke with United Playaz Executive Director, Rudy Corpuz Jr about the group’s support of the Food Bank. 

Food Bank: What is your role at this food pantry?  

Rudy Corpuz Jr.: We are here because this is our community, we were doing this before the crisis started. We want to make sure we play our part and help out in the community for the most vulnerable population and just provide some support and help to make sure everybody is eating. 

FB: Has it been hard to recruit your members during these times?  

RC: Absolutely not. You know we want to give back. Our motto is: It takes the hood to save the hood. It’s our way of giving back. We’ve got different community-based organizations that have come together in solidarity under one umbrella, with no pride, no ego, just to make sure we take care of the community and the people. 

And all walks of life, you know what I mean. We’ve got ex-convicts, we’ve got college students, we’ve got developers, we’ve got tech people, people who went to school, who didn’t go to school – everybody who wants to help out and put their life on the line for others. 

FB: Are you concerned about your health being out here during COVID-19?  

RC: Absolutely, of course, I am. I have kids. I want to make sure I’m safe, and my kids are safe, and my community is safe. But I know there is a bigger need. Somebody’s got to do it. And so, what better way…I don’t want to die, or even get sick…but what better way to put your life on the line for others in this way. 

FB; Can you tell me a little about how you’ve been helping get food delivered to those who can’t come to the pantry?  

RC: During this crisis, everybody knows that the most vulnerable population is the senior citizens. You have a lot of seniors in this neighborhood – South of Market District 6 – who live in their apartments and live in the hotels, the SROs, and they are scared to come out. So, what we do as service providers for the community is to find out what their need is and what they want. We go out there and ask them if they need groceries, which they do, and boom, we deliver it to them. 

FB: How are you in touch with these individuals?  

RC: In our community, there are already organizations that are working with seniors. We are youth-led and there are senior groups. So what I did, I brought us all together and said, “hey look here, we’re in this crisis together. You know, service providers that serve seniors, we serve kids, some people serve reentries, the Food Bank gives food, let’s all work together in solidarity to make sure we are hitting the most vulnerable population.” 

So, the senior organizations will tell us who needs what. We provide the muscle and the leg power and energy, and we go out and do it. 

It’s like a basketball team, everybody has to play their part on the basketball court. You have the center who is in the middle and gets the rebounds, you have the guards who bring the basketball up. And so, if everybody plays their part, we’re successful, we win. 

During this crisis, these are the times that you have to stand for something that is greater than you. What a greater way to work with the food bank who provides those services. We don’t do it, they do it. 

FB: But you are out here making it possible – being the arms and the legs.  

RC: But I think that’s what I’m saying. You guys are like bringing up the ball. We get the ball, we put it in the hoop. 

Food Bank partners and volunteers like United Playaz are making it possible for us to continue our mission. Sign up to volunteer here.  

Hunger Doesn’t Take a Break – Please Volunteer

March 13, 2020

Here at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, we serve some of the most vulnerable people in our community; children, seniors, homebound adults with disabilities, and families struggling to make ends meet. Now, more than ever, it’s critical to get food out to the community. Schools are closing, people are homebound, and many have their work hours cut in the wake of COVID–19.  

At this time, the Food Bank is still fully operational. As indicated in the new public health order that requires residents to stay home except for essential needs, food banks are an essential service similar to a grocery store, and we must continue to work to distribute food out in the community.

The backbone of our operation

We can’t provide food without you. Our volunteers help us pack and distribute over 1 million pounds of food per month! It’s understandable that there are concerns about volunteering at this point. And individuals should consider their own health and well-being before deciding whether or not to volunteer. We are closely monitoring the situation and we are in close contact with the SF Department of Public Health and are following their recommendations. We are reevaluating our operations daily. 

To protect the health of our volunteers, and staff, we have made changes to our warehouse volunteer program, for example, reducing the number of volunteers at each shift and cutting non-essential projects. Right now, we are only packing senior boxes and grocery bags for delivery to homebound neighbors. We have also stepped up our cleaning and are wiping down all equipment after every shift, and asking all volunteers to keep a reasonable distance from one another while at the warehouse and when possible moving the projects outside. We also have plenty of hand sanitizer and gloves are mandatory for volunteers.

And of course, if any volunteer is feeling unwell, we ask them to stay home.

More need out in the community

Our volunteer needs are ever-changing as we adapt and respond to the challenges COVID-19 presents and determine how to best serve our community. If you are interested in learning about future opportunities in the warehouse and in the community as they arise in response to COVID-19, please, go to our volunteer page to sign up.

Questions? Read our FAQ

Thank you for your support!

PS. If you want to see what it is like to volunteer at our warehouse, press play.

Lily’s Determination to End Bay Area Hunger

February 21, 2020

Twenty-three tons is no match for Lily, one of our super-sheroes! That’s the amount of rice that was collected with her determination and dedication to ending Bay Area hunger.

Like most other teenagers, Lily’s very busy with her schoolwork, her favorite class being band, where she plays the French horn. And she loves to play classical guitar, hang out with her friends and listen to Billy Eilish and the AJR Band. What’s different is that Lily is a major fundraiser for good!

When Lily was just six years old, she began appealing for donations to buy gifts and clothes for foster kids and homeless youth through her own nonprofit, www.givewithlily.com. From there, she expanded to helping feed the hungry. Her desire to help those facing hunger was, in part, spurred one Halloween when she saw other kids collecting cans of food while trick or treating. Lily joined in and got over 90lbs of cans.

Her commitment continued to grow in 6th grade when several classes competed to get the most canned food donations; When her class was coming in dead last, she stepped up to collect money to buy 1,100 cans of food! There wasn’t any rule against doing that, and she wanted to win–and that’s just what they did due to Lily’s ingenuity and determination.

Supersizing her donations

Lily realized that she could get more bang for her buck if she bought food in bulk for donations to the local food banks. She researched and cold-called rice distributors while collecting money to purchase and deliver the rice. The bulk rice provider informed her that $1000 would get her one ton of rice.

A week later, she called the rice supplier back, and they generously told her that now she could get two tons. While working out the delivery details, she called them again and was pleasantly surprised to find out that she would get three tons for $1,000! She quickly mailed the check and arranged the delivery while raising more money. After a couple of weeks, she noticed that her check had not been cashed and started to worry that something was wrong. When she talked with them, they said, “The rice is on us, and we’re going to tear up the check!” Lily was pleasantly surprised by their continued generosity, and now she had $1,000 to get more rice.

Once again, Lily was determined to maximize the amount of rice she could get for her money. This time, she went directly to a larger California rice distributor and bought three additional rice tons. Now she had six tons and arranged its delivery to us in December 2018.

As you can tell by now, once Lily figures out how to beat her record, she keeps going. Between July 2019 and January 31, 2020, she bought and arranged delivery for another seventeen tons of rice, making her total twenty-three tons! The rice was not just for our foodbank, but also for the Alameda County Community Food Bank, the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano, and Second Harvest. We were thrilled to bag it for the other food banks. Lily was thrilled and grateful that her donors trusted her with their money and helped her with logistics.

When asked what message she has for others, Lily said, “Hunger is everywhere, and if we don’t help, who will?” We are so grateful for Lily’s compassion and dedication to helping provide #FoodforAll. Thank you, Lily, with all our hearts.

 

 

 

Nourishing the Community through Namaste

October 17, 2018

It’s a cool evening in San Francisco’s Crocker-Amazon neighborhood, with a healthy layer of the city’s ubiquitous fog blanketing the sky above – but it’s a much different story down below, where a certain warmth glows from Tony Garcia’s home yoga studio.  It’s here where the muscular. mustachioed man in his 50s says he does his best work.

“I got into yoga several years ago as a way to center myself.  I enjoyed it so much that I decided to become a certified instructor so I could spread the goodness to friends and family,” he says.

Tony and his wife Rachel went so far as to convert the downstairs section of their home into a full-blown yoga studio – complete with bamboo flooring, rubber mats, and special mood lighting.  Soon after, they started hosting bi-monthly sessions.

“We invited family members and neighbors to give it a try.  It was slow going at first, but the idea eventually caught on,” says Tony.  “Now we see 5 to 10 people every other week.”

What also caught on was how the Garcias would use their newfound love of yoga to give back.  “I knew I wasn’t in it to make money … instead, I wanted this all to mean something more.”

That’s when Tony hearkened back to a volunteer shift he attended at the Food Bank as part of his employment with the City and County of San Francisco. “It was a while ago, but I remember being so impressed with the operation…about how much work goes into feeding people in this city who don’t have enough food to be healthy,” he recalls.  “And I thought that THIS was the time that I could do more to help.”

The Garcias decided to ask their “students” to give whatever they felt the lesson was worth, with all of the proceeds making their way into a special teapot that sits in the yoga studio.  Then, every few weeks when the teapot gets full, Tony or Rachel donate it to the Food Bank.

“That was about 7 years ago…and I’m happy to say that we have never wavered,” Tony says. “100-percent of all the money that’s been raised through my yoga classes has been used to help feed the less fortunate.”

Food Bank spokesperson Mark Seelig applauds the Garcias’ extraordinary efforts. “It goes to show you that there are more ways to be philanthropic than by just pulling out your checkbook or swiping your credit card.  The best part is that these funds all add up, and help us make a real difference in our mission to end hunger in San Francisco and Marin.”

Over the years, the Garcias have become way more savvy in their gift-giving.  “We now wait until the Food Bank offers some sort of corporate match to donate – so we can double the impact!”  They’re not finished just yet either.  Tony says he plans to keep doing this … “as long as my body holds out, and as long as we have friends and family who want to support the Food Bank in the most calming way possible!”

If you are giving to the Food Bank in a creative or unusual way, please leave us a comment.  And click here if you would like to make a generous donation to the Food Bank.

Our Volunteers Make A Difference

May 31, 2018

Forty thousand!  That’s the number of volunteers who have walked through our doors and helped sort produce, pack one-pound bags of rice, or staff one of our Produce Pop-Ups.  Volunteers are not just a way for us to involve the community in our mission to end hunger in San Francisco and Marin – they are intrinsic to our entire operation.

We’ve done the math, and 40,000 volunteer working shifts in our warehouses and out in the community put in as many hours as 62 full-time employees. To put it simply, we couldn’t accomplish all that we do without the support of our amazing volunteers.

Carly Levin is a Food Bank board member and the executive director of JP Morgan Chase & Co.  She and other employees have been among our biggest supporters, volunteering dozens of hours in our warehouse, and making generous donations – including a $25,000 match for our first-ever volunteer-only matching gift challenge in April.  Their support is essential for keeping many of our vital programs up and running.

“There is no better way to spend the day,”says Levin, who recently volunteered at a food pantry. “Participants are filled with gratitude for the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables they receive to feed their families. And our job as volunteers is to make them feel welcome.”

In April, we hosted a special celebration in our San Francisco warehouse to mark Volunteer Appreciation Week.  We invited some of our most ardent supporters for a day of fun, food and carnival games as a way to show our gratitude. Click here to view our photo album from Volunteer Fest 2018.

We distribute 48 million pounds of food to nearly a quarter of a million people every year and volunteers are essential to this work.  Thank you, volunteers – for your dedication and enthusiasm for  helping our community.

 

 

April 12, 2018

Full Circle | A Volunteer’s Perspective

November 16, 2017

Barbara Elliott caught herself chuckling the other day as she was breaking down food boxes inside St. Dominic’s Catholic Church in San Francisco’s Lower Pac Heights. It was Monday morning and the longtime parishioner was volunteering her time at the food pantry in the downstairs community room.

“I’m laughing because I recently volunteered at the Food Bank’s warehouse, and my job there was to build the food boxes… here I am now, tearing them down!”

Indeed, the 74-year-old Elliott has come full circle. She has seen how the food comes into our warehouse and how it’s packed for distribution and is also intimately aware of where it goes — into the hands of our neighbors in need.

VOLUNTEERS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE

Elliott is one of 40,000 volunteers who gave their time this year to help the Food Bank in its mission to end hunger in San Francisco and Marin. That’s the equivalent of 70 full-time employees, and every last person is needed to distribute just over 48 million pounds this year. “There is absolutely no way we could move that much food and feed that many people if we didn’t have volunteers like Barbara, willing to give up a few hours of their time each week, to pack food, hand out food, and do it with a smile,” says Food Bank Community Engagement Manager, Cody Jang.

A volunteer shift is fast-paced and exciting. Many of our warehouse shifts involve boxing up thousands of pounds of fruits or vegetables. Sometimes our volunteers are tasked with repacking rice into family-friendly one-pound bags. Every volunteer leaves knowing just how much they packed or sorted, and how much of an impact it will make on the community later that week.

You can count Elliott as a believer.  “I really enjoyed my volunteer shift in the warehouse, but find it much more rewarding to see the smile on people’s faces when they receive these fresh groceries every week at my pantry.”

If you’d like to donate your time at one of the two Food Bank warehouses, please sign up here.