The Food Bank has struck a deal with CalTrans to allow for a parking lot to be built on an unoccupied parcel of land in the city’s Dogpath neighborhood.   Reporter Michael Iacuessa covered the story for the Potrero View Newspaper

Add hunger to the list of things that’re booming in the Bay Area. The San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, which just purchased a 38,000-square foot facility in San Rafael and plans to expand its 65,000-square foot warehouse on Pennsylvania Avenue, estimates that 29 million meals are missed annually in the City alone.

“When we first moved into our building 20 years ago, we were distributing eight million pounds of food,” said Paul Ash, the Bank’s executive director. “Now we are distributing almost 50 million pounds of food and it’s still not enough.”

The Food Bank’s goal is to have enough capacity to distribute 70 million pounds from its San Francisco location. It already has the capability to bring in more food. “We just have nowhere to put it,” said spokesman Mark Seelig.

Read more of Iacuessa’s story – published in June 2018 – here.

For the 4th year in a row, we were involved in the Food Bank Finals Challenge – pitting us and the Alameda County Community Food Bank against the Greater Cleveland Food Bank – asking fans of the Warriors and the Cavs to make a donation during the NBA finals to prove which fan base is the most generous.  This year, it wasn’t even close.  The bay contingent raised over $20,000 while Cleveland only raised $155.00 (sad face emoji).  This fundraising campaign captured some nice media attention from our partners at ABC7

Along with more coverage from:

The NBA

KQED Radio

WDTN

Interim San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell

This past Wednesday, Metallica held their first-ever “Day of Service,” an opportunity for fans to join the band members in chipping in at food banks and giving back to their communities. The event was an extension of the group’s charitable All Within My Hands Foundation, which aids in critical local services and supports workforce education and the fight against hunger. Drummer Lars Ulrich pitched in at the San Francisco–Marin Food Bank, where he packed oranges into crates for people in need and rubbed elbows with fans. Here, he explains why it was important for Metallica to shed light on the cause and what he learned from it.

Lars Ulrich Essay

Members of the legendary Bay Area heavy metal band “Metallica” recently got together with their nonprofit foundation “All Within My Hands” to urge fans around the nation to volunteer at their local food bank.

The band’s legendary drummer, Lars Ulrich paid a visit to the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank to put in a little sweat equity himself.  He was greeted by reporters from:

KCBS Radio

ABC7

NBC Bay Area 

KTVU2

NBC Los Angeles also did its own story

Earlier this month the Food Bank participated in yet another Stamp Out Hunger food drive with Letter Carriers in San Francisco and Marin.

KCBS Radio reporter Jeffrey Schaub stopped by the Marin warehouse where we collected about 65,000 pounds of food!

As the House Agriculture Committee debated the 2018 Farm Bill on Wednesday in Washington, the most controversial component of the bill had nothing to do with agriculture, but rather, hunger.

Bay Area food banks and House Democrats said that the country’s most vulnerable populations would be severely hurt by Republicans’ proposed changes to food stamps, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program portion of the bill. House Republicans have proposed more stringent food stamp eligibility and work requirements, which anti-hunger groups say will lead to millions losing an essential but modest safety net that provides an average of $1.40 per person per meal.

Read more of San Francisco Chronicle Reporter Tara Duggan’s story, published April 18th, 2018

The Food Bank is always looking for new ways to bring more people closer to the mission of ending hunger in our community.  Recently, the warehouse served as the backdrop for a bachelorette party.

ABC7 News was there

KCBS Radio also covered the event…

The Food Bank was approached by Reporter Nicole Wallace, who was doing a feature on mid-level giving for the Chronicles of Philanthropy magazine.  They asked for an interview with our Director of Development at the time, Bob Brennaman.

Chronicles of Philanthropy: Mid-Level Donor Programs Grow in Popularity

The Food Bank has long been trying to tackle hunger on college campuses, opening up pantries at most of the places of higher learning in our service region.  The pantry on the San Francisco State University campus is celebrating one year in existence, good enogh to bring out a few reporters

Scott Lettieri from KCBS Radio

Ruby Virchow from the Golden Gate Express

The San Francisco-Marin Food Bank is pleased to announce plans to move our operations in Marin to a large warehouse property we purchased earlier this year in San Rafael.

The 38,000 square foot building, located at 2550 Kerner Boulevard in San Rafael, contains both warehouse and office space, and is approximately three times larger than the facility we currently lease in Novato.

“This new property is a game changer for our organization – and for our community,” said Food Bank Executive Director Paul Ash.  “For several years, we have been looking for additional warehouse space that would enable us to continue growing our operations and serve even more neighbors in need. This new facility will enable us to do just that – to increase our food distribution, add more services, and engage with more Marin residents who wish to volunteer their time in our warehouse.”

Food distribution to Marin pantries and partners will continue uninterrupted during the move, but volunteer shifts in Marin have been temporarily suspended as the new site undergoes some construction to create optimal work-space.

This news garnered some coverage online, in newspapers, on radio and on television.  Check out some of the local news coverage below.

KCBS Radio

SF Eater

Marin Independent Journal

IJ Editorial

IJ Columnist Vicki Larson

MARIN MOMMIES BLOG