Category: Programs

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.

“Kindness is Strength”: Sam’s Story

September 24, 2024

Coming from an Italian family where a full belly was the highest compliment, Food Bank volunteer Sam grew up knowing that food was “a big deal.” 

 “Without food, I feel like life would be boring,” he shared. “Food is a way for people to show how much they care about people, without knowing how to say it or show it otherwise. I feel like you can solve a lot of problems with food.” 

 In July of 2021, food helped Sam solve a problem of his own: how to occupy his time as a newly sober person. Meditating on the value of food in his own life, and as a safety net and springboard for others, he decided to volunteer with the Food Bank.

 “Trying to Make a Life” 

 After a short stint packing grocery bags at the San Francisco warehouse, Sam began delivering fresh food to the doorsteps of homebound neighbors. But soon, he was wondering how he could make an even greater impact. Eager to build a consistent routine and establish a connection with folks on his route, Sam “adopted a building” to deliver food to the same families in the Tenderloin each week.  

 Reflecting on his experiences over the past three years, Sam was quick to counter common misperceptions about food insecurity in the Tenderloin: “I deliver food to not just folks who are in from the cold, but a lot of people who are trying to make a life and get back on their feet,” he shared. “There are families in these neighborhoods that need this service. They’ve got children they have to feed.” 

 Underscoring Sam’s point, only 3% of Food Bank participants are unhoused and 60% have at least one member of the family working. It’s clear that homelessness and unemployment are not the drivers of food insecurity in our community. That’s why we’re working with partners, advocates and volunteers like Sam to address hunger at its root: income inequality, the sky-high cost of living, systemic inequities and an insufficient social safety net. 

Haircuts and Healthy Groceries  

Born and raised in Potrero Hill, Sam is determined to keep making a difference in the city that he loves. “I believe that whatever small thing I can do is still a note better than nothing,” he told us.  

 But Sam’s dedication is no “small thing” by any measure. To date, he’s shared more than 130,000 pounds of food with neighbors and volunteered more than 700 hours of his time. He delivers to 75 households weekly. And he’s even picked up some unlikely tools – scissors and a razor – to better meet the needs of his neighbors.  

“I started the barber thing in January of this year. I let everybody [on my route] know upfront: ‘I’m a student barber, but I’m totally willing to give you a free haircut.’ There was one gentleman who really sticks out to me, his name was Paul. I got him cut up looking good. His afro was looking tight, got him a good shave going. He was rocking his handlebar mustache after I was finished. He was giddy almost with excitement,” Sam laughed.

“Kindness is Strength” 

 From trims to line-ups, Sam is building his barbering repertoire while building connections with his neighbors – including a participant on his route who is a barber herself! His driving ethos is the same through it all: “What can I do to lift this person up, to empower them to take the reins and then go forward?” 

 Whether through food, friendly conversation or a solid shave, Sam’s compassion shows up in every interaction.  And when asked to make an elevator pitch for becoming a driver for Home-Delivered Groceries, his call to action is simple. 

 “In the world now, being kind to one another is the strongest thing that you can do for your fellow human being. Kindness is strength. And there are a lot of people who are stronger than they think they are.” 

Gone Green: It’s Not Just Our Logo

April 22, 2024

“It’s like an Easter egg hunt!” 

Those were the words of Benny Pausanos, Senior Fresh Rescue Driver at the Food Bank – and he meant it quite literally. On a sunny Wednesday morning in April, Benny was busy digging through banana boxes in a Trader Joe’s parking lot, searching for stray cartons of eggs while repackaging a caseload of donated groceries. 

Benny’s quest might not immediately seem like a climate-related activity. But when it comes to fighting the climate crisis, food banking might be a bigger part of the solution than many realize. This Earth Day, let’s take a tour of Food Bank programs – and learn how many of them double as climate solutions.  

Farm to Family

Worsening food insecurity and inequitable food access are closely linked to the climate crisis.  As farmers struggle to adapt to changing climate conditions, crop shortages can cause prices to skyrocket. When the buck gets passed to the consumer, these rising prices hit our low-income neighbors the hardest and exacerbate hunger in our community. 

One way we’re fighting this food access barrier is through the Farm to Family program, founded by former Food Bank Board member Gary Maxworthy and run by the California Association of Food Banks (CAFB). 

Farm to Family connects food banks with California growers. When farmers can’t send produce to stores because of size or ‘beauty’ requirements, we can purchase that for pennies on the dollar. This allows us to supply beautiful, farm-fresh produce that our participants can choose from year-round.

Last fiscal year, we diverted 40 million pounds of food through the Farm to Family program, bringing more than 40 types of delicious fruits and vegetables into our neighbors’ homes. But we’re not only fighting the ongoing effects of the climate crisis – we’re also taking preventative measures to avoid warming our climate further.  

Fresh Rescue

As food spoils, it emits methane – a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and a major factor in the worsening climate crisis.  But what if, before it spoils, that food could make it onto the tables and into the stomachs of our neighbors across San Francisco and Marin? 

Enter the Food Bank’s Fresh Rescue program. Every day, Benny and our Fresh Rescue team make the rounds at stores like Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and Safeway to sort through boxes of donated bulk produce, dairy products, proteins and baked goods that otherwise would go to landfill. 

“I’m the link to help transport and qualify these donations,” Benny explained. Stores may donate items for a variety of reasons – whether they’re approaching expiration or have slight imperfections – and

We can’t accept severely dented or crushed cans – they may harbor botulism!

Benny goes through every item individually. “We’re just trying to make the right decisions to feed people good quality food.” 

For donations that aren’t up to quality standards for our neighbors? We send unusable bread and produce to our partners at Marin Resource Recovery Center and Silva’s Ranch, where it becomes feed for pigs, cows, chickens, sheep, goats and even peacocks. Marin Resource Recovery Center, along with Recology SF, also helps sort, compost and recycle our remaining cardboard and other inedible grocery items.  

More Choice, Fewer Emissions

After inspection, high-quality donations come back to the warehouse. Some donations will go out to our pantry network, providing neighbors with additional grocery options on top of farm-fresh produce, whole grains and proteins.  

Other donations are funneled through our Shop Floor program. Our shop partners – community organizations who provide non-pantry services like hot meal sites and after-school snacks – can stop by our warehouse for free produce, bread for 8 cents/pound, and all other items for 18 cents/pound. “It’s all beneficial,” said Benny. “They can pick and choose what they can take for their programs. I think it’s impactful in that way – they have that extra variety to source from.” 

Giving our neighbors more variety and choice is always a win in our book. Plus, our Fresh Rescue program helps permanently avoid the production of harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Food Bank Fresh Rescue staff diverted four million pounds of food from rotting in landfill last fiscal year – that’s the equivalent of protecting 4,000 acres of forestland.  

Energy Efficient Improvements

Our programs aren’t the only thing keeping us green! With the generous support of Capital Campaign donors, we expanded and redesigned our San Francisco warehouse to store more fresh produce, serve more people, and save more energy. Now, we’re building on that momentum by installing solar panels at our San Rafael warehouse! 

“Solar energy is a renewable resource that produces clean electricity without emitting greenhouse gases or other pollutants. By harnessing solar power, we’ll be reducing the carbon footprint of our San Rafael warehouse and contribute to environmental sustainability,” shared Carmelo Riyel Santo-Tomas, Senior Associate Director of Facilities at the Food Bank. 

Alongside sustainability-focused building improvements, our drivers are optimizing their routes to eliminate back-tracking and save on fuel costs. And in the next year, we’re looking forward to welcoming new electric vehicles into our fleet of trucks – another move towards energy efficient transportation.  

Climate Impact in Community

We’re proud of our work to become a more climate-conscious organization, but we recognize we have a long way to go. Looking to the future, we’re continuing to explore how to reduce food waste, implement energy efficient storage and transportation, and partner alongside farmers and community organizations who share our desire for a positive climate impact.  

Just as food banks can’t end hunger alone, we can’t fight the climate crisis alone. Together with our participants, partners, staff and community, we are committed to doing our part to support the well-being of our neighbors and the planet. Happy Earth Day! 

Finding Joy with Ms. Chang

February 28, 2024

As rain drizzled down on an early Saturday morning at Florence Fang Community Garden (FFCF), Ms. Chang finished loading up her cart with groceries and beckoned us over to view her most recent crop: a bountiful patch of cauliflower! Each plant boasted a still-growing cauliflower head, already larger than an outstretched hand.  

Ms. Chang is an eight-year volunteer and five-year food pantry participant at FFCF, a Food Bank partner and beautiful one-acre community center located in Bayview-Hunters Point. “It’s a really diverse space, with all kinds of people,” Ms. Chang told us. “I live in Hunters Point, so I walk here. My motivation to come out was that I’m retired, and now I have free time! This is an opportunity to find some joy, and it’s just really fun to socialize.”  

Return of the Food Pantry 

It’s not only social hour at the farm: Ms. Chang, along with around 15-20% of other farm volunteers, stops by FFCF’s Saturday morning food pantry before beginning her farm workday. Though it was forced to close because of pandemic precautions, the pantry reopened with the support of the Food Bank back in February of 2023.  

Now, FFCF provides pantry essentials and fresh produce each week to mainly Chinese elders. It’s a much-needed service, especially as high prices persist and safety net programs are rolled back – because neighbors like Ms. Chang and her eldest daughter, whom she lives with, are already feeling the impacts. 

Ms. Chang shared her experience: “I have CalFresh, it helps me with getting groceries. It was definitely easier during the pandemic with their extra funding [emergency allotments]. But it barely holds me over now. I cope by just not buying as much – I have retirement (SSI) too, so I’m not completely depleted. It does feel like not enough sometimes, though.” 

Saturday (Farm)er’s Market 

Neighborhood pantries like FFCF help fill the gap with fresh, healthy food for thousands of neighbors across San Francisco and Marin who are facing similar difficulties. On the Saturday we visited, volunteers laid out items like rice, bok choy, beets, carrots and celery farmer’s market-style, so each participant could take or decline items as they wished. 

“It’s great to see all of the offerings and get to choose what I want to bring home. I tend to like everything, though,” Ms. Chang told us. “With today’s offerings, I’d throw together the carrots, celery, bok choy, throw some sort of meat in and make a lovely soup. It is great for bringing down inflammation in the body!” 

A Joyful Space 

Upon immigrating to San Francisco from Guangzhou, China in the 80s, Ms. Chang worked as a sewist in San Francisco Chinatown’s garment factories. Now retired, the farm offers a different, more enjoyable kind of work: “I get to do some work on the farm, grow green vegetables and romaine lettuce. I grow really big winter melons. It isn’t too strenuous, and we get to pick whatever jobs we want. Plus, I like the exercise!”  

As we talk, she helps another volunteer carry a basket of recent harvests up the hill, where they’ll be divided among the volunteers – “we all get to share our harvests with one another,” explained Ms. Chang. That’s not all they share, because food and fun go hand in hand at FFCF. Typically, Ms. Chang will volunteer with her two younger sisters, but her daughter and grandchildren also stop by occasionally: “There’s a lot of events and activities at the farm, and my family enjoys coming to these events. We throw parties, sing, dance, everything. You’ll have to come visit us when we put on talent shows!” 

After marveling at the beauty and vibrancy of the farm and learning what Ms. Chang is planting for spring (tong ho and yao choy!), we finally wave goodbye. The rain has stopped, the sun is beginning to peek out, and Ms. Chang heads back to her fellow volunteers. From the smile on her face, it’s safe to say that FFCF has built not only a flourishing farm or food pantry, but a true community on this plot of land.  

As Ms. Chang put it so succinctly: “I have a lot of friends here. Being here makes me happy.”  

Volunteering: An Unexpected Gift

December 22, 2023

If you asked Nick his driving motivation to home-deliver groceries to neighbors during the pandemic, he simply felt it was the right thing to do: “I feel very strongly that people should not go hungry. I think that of all the things that humans confront, hunger is the worst. So, I just wanted to help make food available.” What he couldn’t have expected was to come away from his volunteering experience at the Food Bank with some new home décor — but more on that later. 

From New Neighborhoods to Familiar Faces 

After working in the warehouse and at different Food Bank pantries during the early pandemic, Nick signed up to home-deliver groceries to seniors, families with young children, folks with disabilities and other neighbors who weren’t able to make it to a traditional pantry but still needed food. His shift took him all throughout the city — including neighborhoods that he, after many years of living in San Francisco, had never been to before.  

Then, he got an email from the Food Bank, inviting volunteers to “adopt a building,” or deliver to the same building and neighbors each week. 

“That’s how I got into home-delivering groceries at an apartment complex in Japantown. And it’s been extremely fulfilling. I enjoy seeing the same people again and again. They have a true multinational force in that building, so it’s a huge variety of people,” Nick shared.  

Communicating Through Food 

“I’ve had all kinds of food given to me because people just want to acknowledge me bringing food to them,” Nick told us, highlighting how despite communication barriers, both volunteers and participants find a way to share their mutual care and respect. Though Nick is the one dropping off groceries, including 70% fresh fruits and vegetables, pantry staples like rice, and proteins like eggs and chicken, many neighbors reciprocate in their own way. 

“There’s one unit with an elderly couple, and the woman is a baker. She makes these palmiers that are so good! And then for example, this week, one person gave me a bag of raisins and date pieces.” Who knew volunteering could be such a sweet gig? 

A Heartfelt Gift 

But of all the moments he’s shared with other neighbors, one memory with John and Yihung, an older couple on his delivery route, sticks out for Nick above the rest. 

“John asked me one time how old I am [75]. I told him, and he just was blown away. He wound up making me a scroll, which is in English and in Chinese characters. It’s just incredible that he took this effort to prepare that scroll, as a way of saying thank you. I almost choke up thinking about it,” Nick shared.  

The hand calligraphy of the beautifully ornate scroll reads: Mr. Nick: Seeing you at this age, you still working hard to serve our elderly. I can’t help but say: the world would be more beautiful if there were more people like you! 

In Nick’s words: “It’s really a beautiful thing, isn’t it?” 

Just the Delivery Boy? 

Nick was immensely touched by John and Yihung’s gesture and hangs the scroll in his home to this day. But he was quick to point out that it takes a whole community of people to make delivering groceries possible, week in and week out. 

“I am humbled by all the effort behind me, by all the people at the Food Bank who make this happen. That’s the extraordinary part of this. The people who are out there on the curb in all kinds of weather, loading groceries into people’s cars, people who are working in the warehouse day after day, that’s not exactly the easiest thing to do,” he said. “I’m just the delivery boy.” 

Nick’s right: transformative change takes collective action. But that’s exactly why the hard work of volunteers or “delivery boys” like Nick is so critical to ensure that fresh groceries can reach neighbors across San Francisco and Marin. Thousands of families, including John and Yihung, depend on home-delivered groceries to put food on the table and keep up with the ever-high cost of groceries, rent, medical bills, gas and more.  

We can’t promise you a handmade scroll of appreciation. But here’s what volunteering WILL deliver: greater connection with your community, a critical service for our neighbors, and an opportunity to help provide Food For All. Join Nick and sign up to “adopt” a route – fill out this form of interest to get more details.   

Gathering Around the Table

December 14, 2023

It’s a simple question: what’s the dish you would make for a holiday gathering? But these answers reveal more than just food preferences. When we prepare a meal that means something to us and those we gather with, we bring a piece of ourselves and communal joy to the table.

Our community is cooking up some delicious dishes as the holiday season kicks into high gear. But before we dive into their holiday food traditions, we must recognize that steep food prices combined with a sky-high cost of living are forcing many to turn to the Food Bank to afford a holiday meal for their table. And with support from all levels of government going away, we’re struggling too. We’re serving thousands more neighbors than before the pandemic, and we need your support. Join us and reinvest in community by donating today.

Now – let’s get into those recipes!

 

“Fish and chicken are very important for us as Chinese people. Without fish and chicken, it wouldn’t be a holiday!” – Mimi (left) and Amy (right), Food Bank participants

 

“It’s definitely menudo and pozole season – those big bowls of warm soups! And tamales with a big cup of atole. Tamales are what I’m most excited to eat – that’s really what lets me know the holidays are here.” – Omar, volunteer at Food Bank partner La Raza CRC

 

“My tradition is always making Christmas lasagna, using spinach in the ricotta so there’s green and red from the tomatoes. [It makes me think of] back in my younger days when I could entertain, and having friends and family over – just good times.” – Deirdra, Food Bank participant

 

“Calabaza en tacha is a type of sweet pumpkin dish. It’s delicious, and the texure is very smooth. You caramelize the pumpkin with piloncillo (pure cane sugar). It’s a sugar bomb, and a very special Mexican recipe for Semana Santa and Día de los Muertos!” – Norma (left) and Gloria (right), Food Bank volunteers

“My candied yams are a family recipe that goes back many generations – it makes me think of my great-grandmother and my great-aunt. For the spices, you need brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, vanilla flavoring, a pinch of salt and lots of butter. It’s so good!” – Beverly, Food Bank participant

“I always make this for the holidays — it’s my tradition. Steam some brussels sprouts whole, then drop them in an ice bath and then quarter them. Chop up some thick bacon, cook that, then add half a cup of finely diced garlic. Toss in the brussels sprouts and some caraway seeds, get it nice and hot, and you’re done!” – Sean, Community Coordinator at the Food Bank

 

 

Thanks to our community for sharing out their favorite recipes – we hope you can garner some inspiration for your next holiday feast. Happy Holidays!

 

Ming’s Story: “We Make Enough for All”

December 1, 2023

Peering in through the windows of a Cantonese barbeque spot in the Richmond district, your gaze meets a line of roast duck, dripping fatty juices onto pans of stir-fried noodles, vegetables, and roast pork Rows of ducks hang above trays of stir fried noodles, meats, and more.below. Next door, another restaurant dishes up steaming, juicy xiao long bao. 

These two restaurants are where Food Bank pantry participant Ming has worked for the past 10 years – first as a cook, now as kitchen manager of both operations. Though her job has steady hours, and she’s able to eat shift meals at work, inflation is still taking a toll on her household budget: “Groceries are really expensive,” she shared. “But even though it’s hard, I still have to support my three daughters.” 

That’s why her local food pantry makes all the difference. 

Pantry Ingredients Save More than Money 

Ming first learned about the Roosevelt Pop-up Pantry from a friend in 2020, when the pandemic shutSu Ming taking her lunch break from work down restaurants all over the Bay Area and put her and thousands of others out of work. As a single parent raising a high schooler, putting another daughter through college, and helping support her eldest daughter at the time, Ming needed some support of her own. Ever since, these weekly groceries from the pantry near her work have remained a crucial time- and money-saver for this busy mom.

“What I get here is easily enough for a few days, sometimes a week — it depends on what there is. I’m really grateful, but I have to be strategic,” Ming told us. Thousands of neighbors are performing this mental math each week, stretching their groceries out to cover as many meals as possible.  

Our survey of more than 9,000 Food Bank participants showed that single parent households like Ming’s are among those hit the hardest — 69% could not afford a $400 emergency expense, and 88% were worried about running out of food. And with the holiday season and family gatherings in full swing, the pressure to afford special ingredients on top of the essentials can be daunting. 

Holidays Taste Like Mom’s Cooking 

Even though year over year inflation has slowed, the cost of a holiday meal is still 13% higher compared to 2021. It’s no wonder why more than 50,000 households rely on groceries from the Food Bank as the base for their celebratory meals.  

For Ming, the holidays are all about reconnecting with her three daughters — and for her family, much of that connection happens through food. She says her older daughters head home for the holidays with one thing in mind: a home-cooked meal. 

“‘What tastes best is Mom’s cooking!’” Ming laughed, mimicking her daughters. “I make whatever they feel like. I make a soup with carrots, tofu, bean curd sheets, shiitake mushrooms, pork — it’s my daughters’ favorite.”  

Food Brings Joy Year-Round 

As the pantry is winding down for the day, Ming darts back into the restaurant and emerges with massive trays of stir-fried noodles and vegetables, braised pork, and fried rice. Food Bank staff and someFood Bank Community Coordinator Marcel and Su Ming are all smiles for lunch volunteers make their way over, dishing up portions buffet-style and gathering around the foldout table. Turns out, it’s not only Ming’s family that she’s bringing together over food. 

“I asked our chef to cook these dishes for the pantry staff – they like eating it,” she shrugged nonchalantly. “Our staff have to eat lunch too. We make enough for all of us, and then we can have lunch together.” 

As folks sit around laughing, chatting and eating in the sunshine, it’s clear this lunch tradition has morphed into something beyond a quick break from work. These meals are a weekly chance to slow down, connect, and be in community with others. And whether for a special occasion or a regular Tuesday afternoon, any day is a great day to share the joy of good food.  

 

 

Technology That Makes an Impact: Q&A With Cruise

September 19, 2023

Home-Delivered Groceries (HDG) is one of the flagship services our Food Bank offers, serving thousands of participants every week. HDG fills critical gaps in the food assistance landscape: it means that people who find it difficult or impossible to attend food pantries, like seniors or adults with disabilities, can still receive the fresh, nutritious groceries they need. “The produce is just wonderful,” shared Violet, a resident of the Richmond district and HDG participant. “It’s hard for me to lug vegetables home – they’re heavy, you know? And I don’t want to be a burden on my sons and their families.”

But HDG wasn’t always as robust as it is now. Thanks to partners like Cruise, we were able to quickly scale the service when shelter-in-place began in 2020. Their commitment to serving the community is moving us closer to providing food for all. We sat down with Cruise to hear more about our partnership.

Food Bank (FB): When and how did the partnership with the Food Bank come about?

Cruise: When the pandemic hit in early 2020, food insecurity skyrocketed across San Francisco. The number of people who needed support from the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank nearly doubled.

At Cruise, we started by simply asking how we could help. After talking with the Food Bank’s leadership, we committed part of our all-electric fleet of autonomous vehicles (AVs) to quickly scale the HDG program and aid in delivering groceries to those in need. What initially started as a crisis response program in 2020 has grown into a long-term community partnership – to date, we’ve delivered millions of meals with our AVs – and more than three years later, we’re honored to continue delivering these meals six days a week.

 

FB: What benefit have you seen to giving back to the community in this way?

Cruise: Our Cruise for Good partnerships have provided benefits for our community and our company. We’ve delivered over 2.5 million meals to local residents in need, particularly in underserved areas. We’re proud to directly be partnering with San Francisco-Marin Food Bank in a robust way – our teams work together on a daily basis to ensure we’re utilizing the best of our technology to meet a community need in bringing nutritious food to people in a way that fosters equity and dignity.

We’ve also learned through this process. Community partnerships have allowed us to tangibly see how our technology can be harnessed to directly meet the needs of our neighbors – and as a result, these partnerships have been a significant source of employee pride as well as provided operational learnings for our business.

 

FB: Cruise took the 1% Pledge, did your partnership with the Food Bank influence that decision in any way?

Cruise: Absolutely! Serving our communities is core to our mission, but it was this partnership that started in the pandemic that was pivotal for us in realizing our potential to meet urgent challenges in our community even while we were pre-commercial.

While this began organically, it is now core to how we operate. Cruise for Good is a formal program anchored by our Pledge 1% commitment to dedicate at least 1% of our fleet to serving the needs of our local communities.

 

FB: Cruise isn’t just working with the Food Bank, are there other ways you are engaging with the community?

Cruise: The hunger crisis also sits at the intersection of a climate crisis, with over 30 million Americans facing food insecurity, while food waste reaches record highs. Recently, we partnered with food rescue nonprofit, Replate, to launch a first-of-its-kind driverless, all-electric food rescue initiative to combat food insecurity, food waste, and climate change. Cruise’s AVs now deliver recovered meals from local restaurants and business to nonprofits serving those experiencing food insecurity.

In addition, millions of Americans don’t have access to reliable transportation, which in turn creates barriers to economic mobility. That’s why we extended our partnership with nonprofit SF New Deal to provide free rides to late-shift service workers here in San Francisco. In the first few months of this ridehail partnership, Cruise has provided hospitality workers with thousands of rides to workers who often have limited safe or affordable ways to get to and from work.

 

FB: September is Hunger Action Month, a time for people to step up to take tangible action to end Hunger. How would you encourage other companies to take action?

Cruise: Hunger Action Month is an important reminder: it’s up to all of us to take action to end hunger.At Cruise, social impact is in our DNA and embedded in our mission to build more sustainable, equitable, and accessible communities – so it’s natural that our employees have shown genuine enthusiasm for this partnership and many teams across Cruise have volunteered and even led fundraising campaigns for the Food Bank. Volunteering with San Francisco-Marin Food Bank is a simple but effective way for individuals to take action to combat food insecurity. We’d also love to see other companies at One Big Table, where we’ll come together as a community to fundraise to end hunger.

We encourage companies of all sizes to leverage their resources (employee time and talent, in-kind and financial donations) to support critical organizations like San Francisco-Marin Food Bank – and consider joining Pledge 1% to institutionalize these commitments.

A Familiar Face

August 24, 2023

Ring twice. Leave it at the door if there’s a note. Knock once, but loudly, he’s hard of hearing. She’ll get the door; it just takes her a while to get up.

By now, Home-Delivered Groceries volunteer Gideon has these quirks down pat. A freelance journalist by trade, he had just started remote work when the pandemic hit. Three weeks into lockdown, his friend posted on Facebook about a volunteering opportunity with the Food Bank, delivering groceries to homebound neighbors. Gideon was in: “There are things you miss doing, being work from home the whole time. This kind of fills in some of those gaps,” he told us.

Volunteering: A Social Exercise

Gideon loads grocery bags into his car for delivery.

After trying different routes, Gideon eventually chose to “Adopt a Building” or make regular deliveries to the same apartment complex each week. For three years, Gideon’s Saturday mornings have looked very similar: roll up to the Food Bank warehouse, pack his sedan with 20 grocery bags, knock on his neighbors’ doors, and deliver fresh produce, proteins, and grains from the Food Bank wagon in tow.

It’s at this apartment complex where he first met Victoria, who we met in the previous story, along with 19 other neighbors he’s come to know in the years since. For Gideon, volunteering is equal parts exercise – “a trainer once told me the best workouts are the ones that are repeatable!” – and socializing. At one apartment, he goes in to chat with a 94-year-old woman and her daughter offers him a taste-test of the noodles they’re cooking. At another, he shares that they gifted him caramel popcorn after the Warriors were in the finals last year. Even in these passing interactions, it’s clear how food and care go hand in hand.

Showing Up, Every Week

Gideon waves hello to one of the participants along his route.

“It creates a sense of membership,” Gideon said of delivering groceries each week. “You know you’re part of a community, and seeing familiar faces, there’s a type of connection. It’s made [this time] a lot less grim and lonely, without a doubt.”

As we head to make the last delivery of the day – Victoria’s apartment – Gideon shares he’s excited to sit in on the interview and learn more about her life. With 20 deliveries to make, it’s not every day he gets to sit down for a conversation with one of his neighbors. “I look forward to this,” he told us. “I have a stressful job where I don’t interact with people, and volunteering is kind of the opposite. We don’t really have that much time to talk to any [neighbors] individually, but we want to be there for them. We want to show up.”

Gideon (left) and Victoria (right) in Victoria’s building lobby

Be Safe, Be Healthy, Enjoy Life

August 24, 2023

As a retired nurse and home health aide of 25 years, Victoria knows the importance of staying active and eating healthy. In early 2020, she “started going to the YMCA – they have a lot of activities for seniors. There’s bingo, exercise [classes], and every Tuesday they give us food,” she told us at her apartment in the Mission, where she’s lived alone for the past 10 years.

When the pandemic hit, everything at the YMCA shut down – along with the food pantry across the street where Victoria would pick up groceries each week. “I can stand for a couple of minutes, but if the food I get is too heavy, it’s hard for me to get to my apartment,” she shared. “So, when the program was changed, and they delivered it, I was very happy.”

Home-Delivery Makes a Difference

Gideon (left) and Victoria (right) in Victoria’s building lobby

That new program was Home-Delivered Groceries (HDG), which was greatly expanded by the Food Bank during the pandemic when many neighbors like Victoria were homebound and hundreds of neighborhood food pantries were closed. Once a week, HDG participants get a knock at their door, and a bag full of leafy greens, seasonal fruits, proteins, and grains are delivered to their doorstep with a smile.

“That’s why I’ve known Gideon for a long time. He always comes and delivers the food every Saturday, which I appreciate so much,” Victoria shared with us, gesturing to Gideon, her regular HDG volunteer of three years. “He’s working every weekend – we should give him some award, signed by the governor,” she proposed, earning a laugh and a “I’ll take it!” from Gideon.

Convenient, Consistent Food Access

Gideon lifts a bag of home-delivered groceries.

Victoria is very health conscious, especially since getting diagnosed with glaucoma. With ingredients from HDG, she can make the nutritious meals that help ward away what she calls the “three brothers and sisters” that visit you as you get older: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol.

“I have to watch my diet sometimes. [The Food Bank] gives mostly everything – bell pepper now, mushroom, ground beef, turkey, eggs, lettuce, tomatoes, oranges… so, mostly the food that [I] eat every day. I’ll use that in a stir fry, or sometimes I make sinigang, sisig, adobo, or lumpia shanghai. I enjoy it.”

Convenient, consistent access to healthy food helps take a huge stressor off Victoria’s plate, especially as a retiree on a fixed budget. Her income of $850 per month from Supplemental Security Income has to stretch to pay for her utilities, rent, and various medications and medical bills – a nearly impossible task in San Francisco. “Because of [my] age, I cannot go back to work. This is what I get. And the prices of commodities are going up. With the help of the Food Bank, at least I have something to eat.”

Until Next Saturday!

In the coming months, Victoria is focused on attending checkups for her glaucoma, and looking into attending a friend’s Episcopalian church community – she says the bingo is a big draw. And, of course, she’ll be looking forward to Saturdays, both for her grocery delivery and chatting with Gideon. After showing us the bounty in her bag and contemplating what she’ll make for dinner – “maybe some omelet” – she leaves us with a few parting words that Gideon’s already familiar with.

“When I see him, I say, ‘I cannot repay you for all these sacrifices that you are giving to us.’ So I say, ‘Be healthy, be safe, and enjoy life.’ That’s the thing I tell [him] every Saturday he comes and delivers my food.”

Victoria shows off her grocery haul.