Category: Food Bank Life

Cleaner Miles Ahead: How We’re Driving a Greener Future

June 23, 2026

Come by the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank’s Potrero Hill warehouse early in the morning and you’ll find our delivery trucks loading up with fresh produce, getting ready to fan out across San Francisco and Marin. Lately, a few of them pull away a little more quietly than the rest. They’re electric, and they’re carrying what every other truck in our fleet carries: food for people who are counting on it. 

On June 9, the Food Bank reached an exciting milestone in that shift. We cut the ribbon on two new on-site charging stations, with our electric trucks lined up nearby and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie there to help celebrate. 

This is about much more than cleaner trucks. The food we deliver depends on a healthy planet to grow it, so for us, protecting the environment has always been a part of our mission to end hunger. 

Our resolve held even when the rules changed 

“When the federal government rolled back California’s electric vehicle requirements last year, many fleets dropped their electrification plans, and some even walked away from deposits,” said Barbara Abbott, the Food Bank’s chief supply chain office. “The Food Bank chose to keep going, because cleaner air, quieter streets and a smaller carbon footprint are good for the neighborhoods we serve.” 

A Fleet Going Electric 

Our commitment has been years in the making. The Food Bank placed its first order in February 2024. The first three trucks went into service in summer 2025, two more joined this spring, and today five of our 24 trucks run on electricity. The new stations give us room to keep growing, with the hope that most of our fleet will be electric within the next decade. 

None of it happened overnight. The fleet grew order by order, charger by charger, guided by many teams that believed in where this mission. 

“Getting our electric trucks on the road took a couple of years of research, planning and a lot of teamwork,” said Mike Perry, the Food Bank’s senior director of operations. “With the new charging stations, they power up overnight when it’s easiest on the grid and head out the next morning loaded with groceries for neighbors across San Francisco and Marin. It’s been rewarding to watch this fleet grow, knowing that running cleaner and more efficiently means more of our resources can go toward feeding people.”  

That teamwork extended to an innovative public-private partnership: the Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP), the Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project (CORE), Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Bay Area Air District, HEDCO Foundation, California Air Resources Board and Guarini Legacy Corp. helped make the Food Bank’s EV charging stations, trucks and infrastructure possible. 

And the collective support is already paying off: going electric saves the Food Bank roughly $58,000 a year, and with diesel prices climbing, those savings only grow. 

Step back, though, and the charging stations are just one piece of a much bigger picture, the way that Tanis Crosby, the Food Bank’s executive director, sees it. 

“We center our participants in all of our decisions and that includes a cleaner environment and saving on fuel costs to focus more on our food programs and services,” Crosby said. “From partnering with farmers to bring fresh produce to our communities instead of healthy produce going to waste. From our warehouse solar panels and rescuing good but slightly imperfect food from grocery stores to the ribbon cutting for our electric vehicle charging stations. All of it is part of our commitment to energy savings, supporting the environment and doing what’s best for those we serve.” 

For us, this is one more step toward a greener future for everyone, and we’re excited for all the cleaner miles ahead. 

From Our Shop Floor to the SF LGBT Center’s Table

June 17, 2026

Every week, Jas walks the Food Bank’s Shop Floor at our Pennsylvania Avenue warehouse with a two-tier cart and the same goal in mind: how to make life easier and brighter for the young people they serve at the SF LGBT Center. 

“It feels like I’m grocery shopping,” they say. 

The SF LGBT Center is one of roughly 200 community organizations the Food Bank serves through its Shop Floor. On any given weekday, partners of every kind, from after-school programs to agencies offering congregate meals, come to the warehouse and fill boxes and carts of healthy food for the people who count on them. Nutritious produce is free, and the rest of the groceries are sold at a discount through the Food Bank. Much of it arrives through Fresh Rescue, our program that recovers good food from grocery stores like Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Safeway — food that would have gone to waste and is instead headed to someone’s kitchen. 

Jas heads straight for the canned tuna and chicken. 

“These are the best thing, especially for our folks who are on the street,” Jas says. “They have these little cap-on tops, so you don’t need a can opener.” 

The young people who come to the Center are between 16 and 24, known as Transitional Age Youth: newly out, newly arrived and often on their own for the first time. 

Many left home — or were pushed out of it. 

“So many queer and trans kids don’t have family,” Jas says. “Once they turn 18, it’s either they leave or they get kicked out. And then you just don’t have anyone teaching you what to do. That’s kind of why we exist.” 

For a lot of those young people in transition, the Center is the first door they walk through in San Francisco, before they’ve sorted out housing, benefits or even an EBT card. 

“When so many of our kids get here, they’re from other states, other counties, other countries,” Jas says. “They’re not set up with EBT or anything yet. So we are one of their only food sources.” 

MJ, 23, knows that path well. They came to San Francisco after a three-day bus ride, with no housing and no contacts. 

The Center moved fast to help. “They helped me get housing,” MJ says. “They helped me get a fare to get around. They got me in touch with the benefits to get medical. They got me in touch with a law firm.” 

The Food Bank kept MJ fed while the Center helped address the root causes of their hardship. 

Today MJ is housed, studying public policy and a member of the Center’s Youth Leadership Committee (YLC), helping unload the same Shop Floor deliveries they once relied on and putting them together for the new arrivals. Doing it brings back what those boxes meant when MJ was the one opening them. 

“With the food boxes, that’s the first time I consistently had fruit in my entire life,” MJ says. 

Even now, MJ lights up over a good find. “I’ll have something from the Food Bank and I’m like, okay, I have to take a photo of this,” they say. 

For Sophia, 21, who fled Texas to avoid homelessness, the Center is the reason she has housing today. She later joined MJ on the YLC, offering the same care she once received. She thinks a lot about what actually helps. 

“For homeless people, grab-and-go meals are the best,” she says. As a disabled person without an oven, she looks for food that doesn’t ask for energy she doesn’t have, the kind of no-cook, resealable items Jas reaches for on the Shop Floor. “A bag of chips can be resealed,” she says. She has cooked noodles in a kettle. 

Jas hears the gratitude in the youth they serve. 

“I’ve heard many, many times from them, ‘I can’t believe you guys have this,'” Jas says. “Or, I haven’t cooked something for myself in so long. I haven’t had a meal in such a long time.” 

MJ has watched it from both sides. The first time someone comes through, they grab as much as they can carry, unsure when there will be more. 

“The next time they come, you see them take less,” MJ says. The fear of scarcity eases. “The next time I come here, I know there will be something,” they say. “I really appreciate that.” 

It all starts on the Shop Floor: the fruit MJ could finally count on, the resealable snacks Sophia keeps on hand, the meals that leave kids in disbelief, each one chosen from a cart by someone like Jas who knows what these kids need. 

This Pride Month, we’re thinking about what it takes to build that kind of safety. Chosen family. A warm meal. A place that lets you be who you are. The young people at the SF LGBT Center found those things in one another, and in people like Jas who show up week after week to make sure no one is left behind. The Food Bank is part of this community, not apart from it, and we’re here for everyone, however they identify. Food is rarely just food. It’s connection, comfort and a sign that someone thought of you, and a reason to honor the resilience of LGBTQ+ youth and the partners who help them feel safe, nourished and seen.

Staff Profile: Guadalupe Gonzalez, Bilingual Community Connections Manager

April 22, 2026

Guadalupe Gonzalez is the Bilingual Community Connections Manager at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. She leads our Peer Navigation program for Community Markets, a new model of food access the Food Bank is developing together with community partners. Community Markets are grocery store-style sites, open multiple days a week, where participants browse and choose the nutritious, culturally relevant foods that work best for their families. At Food Bank-led markets, Peer Navigators — volunteers with lived experience of food insecurity — help participants find and access local services like housing, employment, utility assistance, and digital literacy support.

“The web of services in San Francisco is so big and accessing them can be daunting,” Guadalupe says. “Having someone who’s been through similar experiences and knows how to navigate these systems can make all the difference.”

Guadalupe knows this challenge because she experienced it first-hand. Born outside Mexico City, she moved to the Bay Area with her family when she was eight. Her mom spoke some English; her dad didn’t. As things got harder and her mom worked longer hours, Guadalupe started filling the gaps. She enrolled her younger sister in after-school programs. She figured out school systems on her own. For a while, people assumed she was her sister’s mother because she was the one showing up to pick her up.

When it came time for college, she was the first in her family to go through the process. By the time her sister applied three years later, Guadalupe could walk her through it. Her sister still thanks her for that.

“The help to get through these systems is often there,” Guadalupe says, “but it can feel inaccessible and overwhelming to find it without support from someone who’s been there before.”

The Peer Navigation program works the same way. Peer Navigators are volunteers recruited from the communities they serve, and Guadalupe helps train and support them so they’re ready to meet participants where they are. After someone finishes shopping at a Community Market, a Peer Navigator can sit down with them, learn what they need, and provide a warm referral — making a phone call, setting up an appointment, or gathering information so a participant can walk into a meeting prepared.

“We already have so many things that are put on us,” Guadalupe says. “Navigating services to help you navigate life should not be the burden.”

Guadalupe got into this work because she spent years as the person in her family who figured out the systems first. Now she’s making sure other people don’t have to do that alone. 

“We make a life by what we give” — Meet Mattie

April 17, 2026

On Wednesday mornings at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank’s Marin warehouse, Matelina, who goes by Mattie, sorts through pallet boxes of donations, checking expiration dates before anything reaches the shop floor. She’s been volunteering multiple days a week since 2019. 

“[Volunteering at the Food Bank] gives me a purpose to live,” Mattie said. “It’s nice to have a schedule to get up and have a purpose.” 

At 80, retired and widowed, Mattie could be doing anything with her Wednesdays. But purpose isn’t a word she uses lightly; she’s spent her life choosing it. 

She keeps a folded piece of paper in her back pocket — a quote from Winston Churchill: 

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” 

Born in American Samoa, Mattie came to San Francisco at 13 to get an education and supported herself through school with office work and odd jobs. At 18, she was in the audience at a luau when the building caught fire. She was badly burned, spent three years in and out of the hospital, went through 19 surgeries, and lost the use of her hands. But the nurses who cared for her at St. Mary’s Hospital changed the course of her life. 

“That’s what made me want to be a nurse,” she said. 

Mattie regained use of her hands, went on to work as a registered nurse in orthopedics, married a wonderful man, and raised three step kids in Marin. But even in the good years, she remembers the challenges of her journey and how she got there. 

“I’ve never forgotten where I came from,” she said. “So, I just keep giving and giving because it’s very satisfying and meaningful.” 

Mattie found the Food Bank through an ad in a local paper. She started with two days a week. Then added a third, and then, during COVID, a fourth. 

Today she oversees the shop floor on Wednesdays and works the warehouse on Tuesdays and Fridays. There’s a spot on the table the staff calls Mattie’s World. As she sorts through donations, Mattie pulls aside items she thinks would suit a senior or someone living alone, extras to go with the produce, proteins, and groceries the Food Bank distributes. 

“She’s just so integral to everything that we’re doing,” said Randy Rollman, senior warehouse coordinator in Marin. “The leadership, setting a good example for the rest of the volunteers. They’re very meticulous about the way they take care of business up there.” 

On Fridays, Mattie helps pack bags of groceries for homebound seniors who can’t get to a pantry. Each one holds frozen food, vegetables, fruit, rice, pasta, and eggs. 

“When we do the Friday delivery, I don’t see the people,” she said. “We just see the bags and the food.” 

But Mattie knows they’re out there. She packs each bag around 30 pounds heavy, enough to feed a home for a week. 

This April, for Volunteer Appreciation Month, we’re recognizing the people like Mattie who show up week after week to make this work possible. More than 55,000 volunteers a year help us provide fresh food to 44,000 households across San Francisco and Marin.

And Mattie has a message for anyone thinking about joining: 

“We need to have you. We’d love to have you join us. We have a fabulous group of people and you’d really enjoy being with us.” 

Remembering Gary Maxworthy, a Titan of Food Banking

April 3, 2026

Each year, the Farm to Family program delivers more than 300 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to food banks statewide to help nourish local communities

Gary Maxworthy transformed a sector. His work impacted hundreds of thousands of families in need by asking a bold question: why couldn’t food banks provide fresh fruits and vegetables grown in California for neighbors in need? 

Gary was charismatic and always had a twinkle in his eyes. He loved people and helped you believe anything was possible.  He was a man whose vision, and unwavering devotion to helping all in our community access healthy fruits and vegetables revolutionized how California food banks operate. He passed away on April 1, 2026. 

After more than three decades in the food distribution business, Gary came to the San Francisco Food Bank at 56 after the loss of his first wife. His children encouraged a change, and volunteering soon became a compass for new purpose. He joined AmeriCorps as a VISTA volunteer, with his first and only assignment at the San Francisco Food Bank.  

Armed with a mission-driven commitment to address the growing problem of hunger, Gary channeled his grief into actions that strengthened our community. 

Gary drew on his deep expertise and quickly saw what needed to change. Food banks at the time relied mostly on canned and packaged goods, while food distributors were sending millions of pounds of fresh produce to landfills every year because it was considered a surplus harvest — nutritious but not photogenic produce.  He knew that if everyone worked together, something transformative could happen. 

Gary believed people facing hunger deserved access to the same fresh fruits and vegetables as anyone else. He was determined to make that happen, even if it meant years of driving up and down Central Valley roads and throughout California to talk with farmers about donating their excess food. In 2000, Gary’s idea took shape as Farm to Family, a groundbreaking program that connects California growers directly with food banks.  

Today, Farm to Family serves nearly every food bank in California. Last year, San Francisco-Marin Food Bank secured 39 million pounds of food through the Farm to Family program, bringing more than 71 types of delicious fruits and vegetables into our neighbors’ homes. The innovative program he launched at San Francisco-Marin Food Bank has now scaled across California, greatly expanding access to fresh, healthy food for those who are food insecure. Each year, the program delivers more than 300 million pounds — about 9,000 tractor trailer loads — of fresh fruits and vegetables to food banks statewide to help nourish local communities

Thanks to Gary, more than 70 percent of what San Francisco-Marin Food Bank provides to participants is fresh produce.  This is the gold standard in food access — providing desired, fresh, culturally responsive produce — a dramatic shift from the canned and packaged food of the past, and a change that continues to set us apart nationwide.

Gary and Radha met through their shared passion for the Food Bank — and even held their wedding at our San Francisco warehouse.

For 23 years, Gary poured his heart into the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. His colleagues remember the way he led with care, mentored the next generation of food bankers and never lost sight of the heart of this work and who really mattered: the participants we serve.  

Gary’s connection to the Food Bank also led to new pathways in his life. He met a kindred spirit in Radha Stern, who shared his commitment to help those struggling to put food on their tables. It was not just the Food Bank’s mission; it was a personal one for the couple. Their connection to the Food Bank was so deeply rooted, they held their wedding at our San Francisco warehouse. 

Gary’s legacy lives on with every moment neighbors enjoy nutritious produce from a community market. It lives on when families gather around a table for a meal made from fresh groceries from our Neighborhood Pantry Network.And it lives on when a parent selects food of their family’s preference at a partner’s farmer’s market style pantry, packing a delicious nectarine into their child’s school lunch. So many in the communities we serve, and across California, thrive because of the transformational work that Gary started.   

We are deeply grateful to have had Gary as part of our Food Bank family.  

Reflections On Being in Service to the Community

February 26, 2026

Ending hunger takes more than food. It takes trusted partners who know their communities and show up for them week after week. For Black History Month, we’re spotlighting three partners whose service to their neighbors is also a reflection of the Food Bank’s mission and commitment to the leadership of our partners in providing community-led solutions to hunger. 

Shanell Williams, Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness 

In partnership with the Food Bank, Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness recently opened a Community Market at Umoja Health Access Point in Bayview Hunters Point. Resembling neighborhood grocery stores, Community Markets let participants choose the proteins, produce, and culturally relevant foods they bring home, and are open multiple days each week. The program centers on respect for participants and the power of choice. It also connects them to behavioral health, wellness, and other supportive services that address the root causes of hunger, all under one roof. 

For Shanell Williams, Rafiki’s executive director, food is an entry point for overall well-being. “To really be healthy, it’s not just one domain,” she says. “It’s making sure that folks have access to mental wellness, complementary medicine, supports for chronic health conditions. And food is a big part of that.” 

Bayview Hunters Point has long been a food desert, and Shanell sees Community Markets as a direct response to that history. “What we love about the community food market is that it’s open access, low barrier, and it’s also about dignity,” she says. “Just because folks are needing to access services doesn’t mean we lose that piece around dignity.” 

Shanell grew up in the Fillmore, San Francisco’s historic Black neighborhood known as the Harlem of the West. Her community-focused leadership journey includes community organizing serving eight years on the San Francisco Community College Board and a decade at UCSF as the Director of Community Engagement and Partnerships at the school’s California Preterm Birth Initiative program. At Rafiki, she hires from the community and builds career pipelines for the people who do the work alongside her. She calls them “PhD doers,” honoring their lived expertise. “It’s really for me about community empowerment,” she says. 

Chester Williams, Community Living Campaign 

Shanell’s work connects people to food and services in one place. Chester Williams brings both directly to people’s doors. 

Every week, the Community Living Campaign (CLC) helps get bags of fresh groceries to roughly 140 elderly neighbors who can’t get to a pantry on their own. The Food Bank supplies the fresh produce and groceries. Meals on Wheels San Francisco provides the operational space. And Chester’s team of volunteers packs the bags and delivers them door to door.  As Bayview food coordinator for CLC, Chester has spent more than a decade coordinating home-delivered groceries for seniors across Bayview, Visitacion Valley, Parkmerced and Lakeview.   

Chester grew up in the Fillmore. He’s Catholic, raised in a tradition of service and commitment to the common good at St. Dominic’s and Sacred Heart. That foundation carried him from teaching elementary school to directing a community technology lab to His delivery routes today reach seniors who speak Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish and other languages. For Chester, making sure every participant feels understood and cared for is the whole point. “I grew up with that feeling of you need to help others no matter who,” he says. “After a while, it’s not even a job anymore. You just automatically put that in.”  

Veronica Shepard, San Francisco African American Faith-Based Coalition 

Chester serves individuals one door at a time. Veronica Shepard mobilizes entire congregations. 

When Veronica and a colleague conducted food security screenings at Black churches across San Francisco, the results were stark: congregants were going hungry, and their pastors had no idea. “These pastors learned their own congregants were hungry and they were blown away by the results,” Veronica says. “Food is relative to everything. You can be unhoused, but you still got to have food.” 

That discovery united faith leaders across the city. In 2016, Veronica formed the San Francisco African American Faith-Based Coalition, bringing pastors, ministers and leaders from across denominations together around the urgency of food insecurity. The coalition impacts some of the city’s most vulnerable populations (Black/African American, Pacific Islanders, Latinx, Black and Middle Eastern Muslims) which have been   partnered with the Food Bank for the past six years. 

Each December, the coalition produces Feeding 5,000, a holiday food distribution that has brought food to more than 22,700 households since the pandemic. But the work continues year-round. “Hunger is not just a holiday event,” Veronica says. “Hunger is every day.” 

Veronica is a native San Franciscan and grew up in the Bayview Hunters Point Neighborhood during the civil rights movement, and she carries that history with her. 

 “I know there’s strength in numbers,” she says. “Just like then, we’re working to make justice happen today.” She reflects on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech to the Medical Committee for Human Rights, in which he stated, “injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman.” 

Veronica emphasizes that hunger is merely a symptom of a much deeper ailment.  

“If we don’t address the root cause of hunger, which is poverty,” she explains, “we are failing to confront the structural injustice that keeps our community in a cycle of need. Without addressing the underlying poverty, the cycle of inequity remains unbroken.” 

Looking Ahead 

The Food Bank works with 265 community partners across San Francisco and Marin to end hunger. The works of Shanell, Chester and Veronica reflect what that partnership looks like when antihunger efforts are led by those who know their community best. We are grateful to walk and work alongside them. 

Staff Profile: Megan on Finding Meaning in Connection

October 28, 2025

Even when you’re mission-driven, it can take a few turns to find someplace where your work truly reflects your values and you can see its impact every day. 

For Megan Coleman, that place is the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. Her connection to the organization goes back to sixth grade. 

Megan grew up in the East Bay, where helping neighbors was part of everyday life. Through a group called the National Charity League, she volunteered with local nonprofits, including the Food Bank.  

“It was my first glimpse of how food brings people together,” she recalled. “Even at that age, I could see that food wasn’t just about surviving. It helped people connect, feel cared for, and belong.” 

After earning a law degree and spending several years working in corporate compliance, Megan realized she wanted to be closer to the kind of impact that had always motivated her. She joined the Food Bank in 2021 and quickly found her fit. 

As Senior Annual Fund Coordinator, she’s often the first person donors hear from when they call or write in. She helps process gifts, answer questions, and makes sure every supporter feels appreciated.  

“It’s meaningful to connect directly with people who care so deeply about ending hunger,” she said. 

Megan sees her role as a bridge between those who give and those who receive support. “Almost every interaction with donors is so positive,” she said. “They’re thoughtful and kind. Some give in honor of a loved one or because their grandchild volunteers with us. Those stories remind me why we do this.” 

She’s especially inspired by the way the Food Bank tackles hunger from every angle, from providing fresh groceries to advocating for long-term change. 

 “Food is more than fuel. It’s tied to health, dignity, and opportunity,” she said. “I love that our work looks at the whole picture, not just today’s needs but the future we’re trying to build.” 

For Megan, it all comes down to connection. “Every call and every conversation adds up to something bigger,” she said. “We’re not just feeding people. We’re building a community where everyone has enough.” 

Patty’s Story: From Pantry Volunteer to Neighborhood Representative

July 28, 2025

When Patricia “Patty” Madrigal moved to Novato in early 2020, she was looking for work that aligned with her values. That’s why, when the opportunity to work at the Food Bank came up, she called it “a no-brainer.”   

“I attended and volunteered at food pantries growing up,” she recalls. So, joining the Food Bank was a full-circle moment. And that personal connection shapes how she approaches her work five years later.   

Patty checking in participants at a neighborhood pantry.

As a Food Bank Neighborhood Representative (NR) for Novato, San Rafael, and West Marin, Patty works closely with local pantries and community organizations to strengthen food access across the region. And, for this type of work, Patty’s knack for collaboration is key. 

“Patty works tirelessly to support her partnerships in Marin,” says Tina Gonzales, Director of Community Partnerships. “She’s built strong relationships by leaning into each partner’s strengths and allowing time for change.”   

That trust helped Patty guide two large sites through the switch to the Food Bank’s Pantry Enrollment System (PES), a shared, centralized database that helps manage long lines and makes food pickup smoother. With Patty’s support, both sites kept serving hundreds of households while making the change behind the scenes. 

“Patty’s support and willingness to listen helped her co-create the best path forward with those partners,” says Tina.   

People are often surprised by just how much Patty manages, supporting pantries across a geographically spread-out and logistically complex region.   

“Marin is one of the wealthiest counties in California,” Patty says, “but that masks the truth. There’s severe income inequality, limited affordable housing, and a real struggle to access nutritious food, especially in remote areas.”   

That’s why Patty’s work is all about meeting people where they are — literally. She’s helped open and grow pantries at schools, clinics, and other trusted partners in the community. She also works closely with partner staff running day-to-day distributions, offering trainings, helping with food safety, and staying connected to what each site needs. 

“Patty is instrumental to the trust and goodwill the Food Bank has built in Marin County,” Tina adds. “She’s a hard worker and a supportive senior program coordinator to the NR team. She’s always positive, dependable, and focused on solutions.”   

For Patty, the work is a chance to give back through the very systems that once supported her family, and to make sure others receive the same care and connection.   

“The gratitude I hear from our partners and the people we serve keeps me going,” she says. “It means a lot to be part of something that brings real support to the community.” 

Owning Our Energy: How We’re Powering a Greener Future

April 21, 2025

Carmelo has been at the Food Bank for 13 years, and as our Senior Associate Director of Facilities, he’s helped lead some of our biggest projects. But one thing people might not know? He’s afraid of heights. 

So, when it came time for his team to oversee the installation of solar panels on the roofs of our San Francisco and San Rafael warehouses, Carmelo faced his fear — again and again. 

“It has been a few years in the making since we started the proposed and now completed solar panel installations at both our San Francisco and San Rafael facilities,” he says. “It’s a major accomplishment that reflects a tremendous team effort — from Operations to our friends in Development responsible for the capital campaign fundraising. It truly takes a village to make something like this happen.” 

At the Food Bank, we know that access to healthy nutritious food is deeply connected to the climate crisis. If we want to build a food-secure future, we have to protect the environment we all depend on to grow the fruits, vegetables, and grains that nourish our communities. That’s why making big investments in sustainability is so important for our Food Bank. 

“All companies should be doing as much as they can to address the climate crisis,” says Michael Braude, our Chief Financial Officer. “The refrigeration required for our operation uses a tremendous amount of electricity. Being able to produce as much of that as possible on our own helps shrink our carbon footprint.” 

We’re not just proud of our solar panels – check our our other sustainability initiatives.

And, we’ll be producing a lot: Our San Francisco warehouse solar system is projected to generate approximately 600,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity each year, reducing our PG&E bill by an estimated 66 %. At our San Rafael facility, we expect to generate about 270,000 kWh annually, with an estimated 90 % savings on electricity costs. 

These systems will cover nearly all the electricity we use during the sunniest months of the year, helping us cut costs, reduce emissions, and serve more people with fresh, healthy food. Simply put: every dollar we save on energy costs helps us go further in our mission to end hunger. 

And we’re not stopping there. We’ve already streamlined our delivery routes through route optimization technology to use less fuel, and this summer, we’re taking another big step: adding three zero-emission electric trucks to our fleet. Two more are on the way, along with the charging infrastructure to support them. 

For Carmelo, who calls himself “a proud Food Banker,” facing his fear of heights was worth it. Reflecting on what’s kept him going all these years: “Of course, it’s our mission to end hunger and the real impact we make in our community. But beyond that, it’s the people,” he continues. “The colleagues I work alongside day in, and day out truly inspire me and keep me motivated. We’re like-minded individuals, united by our commitment to this mission and driven by genuinely kind hearts. That shared purpose and compassion makes all the difference.” 

We’re proud to own our energy and to keep moving forward with climate-conscious solutions that support our neighbors, the planet, and our future. 

Happy Earth Day!

Food Bank Hosts SF Mayoral Candidate Watch Party

October 10, 2024

Ending hunger starts with policy change, and policy change starts at the ballot box. To encourage civic engagement around the issue of hunger in the City and County of San Francisco, the Food Bank partnered with the League of Women Voters and UCSF in co-sponsoring a San Francisco Mayor Candidate Forum on Sept. 30, 2024, at 6 p.m. at UCSF’s Robertson Auditorium. That same evening, 20 community members came together for a live stream of the event at a Mayoral Forum Watch Party in the Food Bank’s Welcome Center.   

In alignment with the Food Bank’s co-sponsorship of the forum, mayoral candidates were asked how they would address food insecurity. Watch party attendee Troy Burnette, a member of the Food Bank’s new grassroots advocacy program, the Food Policy Advocacy Coalition (Food PAC) appreciated the opportunity to gather with others to discuss the candidates’ positions.  “We all need to be coming together to get a better understanding of what we need to work on, to hopefully make things better for everybody,” said Troy. “To hear the candidates speak from their own voices makes a difference on who you may lean toward to move forward and hopefully help the Food Bank.” 

Andre Aikens, Director of Programs for the Rafiki Coalition (a Food Bank partner), also noted that the location of the watch party helped underscore the reality of hunger with the policy positions on food insecurity shared by the candidates. “It connects the dots,” Andre said. “Listening to the candidates and sitting in this place kind of brings it all together so that you feel whether or not an individual actually has a plan, and this issue [hunger] is a priority as well.”  

The candidate forum and watch party are part of ongoing strategic efforts to increase awareness of the Food Bank’s public policy concerns and foster civic engagement activities around ending hunger, according to Noriko Lim-Tepper, Chief Officer for the Food Bank’s Strategic Partnerships, Advocacy and Voice (SPAV) Department. “The Food Bank values the strength and wisdom in our community. As an organization, we center our efforts on lifting the voices of people who have lived experiences with food insecurity to lead meaningful policy change,” said Noriko.   

In addition to viewing the live stream, attendees posed questions to members of the SPAV team. Discussion topics included how ranked choice voting works, aspects of the mayoral race and updates on the Food Bank’s latest policy and advocacy efforts including helping to drive statewide efforts to pass AB518, a new law that could lead to greater access to CalFresh for many eligible but unenrolled Californians. 

Over the next several months SPAV plans additional events demonstrating the Food Bank as a civic engagement gathering place. The department includes the Community Building team of Associate Director Irene Garcia, and Community Builder Jesus Benitez Gomez, and Policy & Advocacy’s Associate Director Marchon Tatmon, and Community Organizer Alex Raffanti. Learn more about Food Bank advocacy efforts at sfmfoodbank.org/advocacy. 

 

The San Francisco-Marin Food Bank is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization and is prohibited from participating or intervening in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office. Our goal is to elevate the issue of hunger with candidates and the public during the election cycle.