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New food drive administrator comes full circle

May 7, 2019 By Jenny

Donations slow down considerably this time of year, which is why the Letter Carriers’ Food Drive, the nation’s largest one-day food drive, is vital for the Food Bank and for the people it serves.

The concept behind the annual event is actually quite simple. On the Saturday before every Mother’s Day, community members are encouraged to place a bag of nonperishable groceries by their mailbox. From there, countless postal workers, food bankers, and volunteers transport and sort the food to give out to people in need.

Coordinating this massive effort behind the scenes is Neil Zarchin, the Food Bank’s new Food Drive Administrator. With over 6 years of experience in food banking, 33 years of experience as a letter carrier, and a defining memory from his childhood fueling his passion to fight hunger–there is no one more qualified to hit the ground running.

Although Neil is new to this role as Food Drive Administrator, he might be a familiar face to some. Before taking on his new position, he was the Food Bank’s Grant Writer. It was his extensive roots with the Letter Carriers’ Food Drive (also known as Stamp Out Hunger) that gave him the desire to initially seek employment at the Food Bank after he retired from the Post Office in 2012. “The more I got to know about the nature of hunger in America, and the work of the Food Bank, the more inspired I became. I knew I wanted to work at the Food Bank when I grew up,” he says with a smile.

Neil’s roots to the Letter Carriers’ Food Drive go back almost three decades before it came nationwide. He recalls when just a few of the local post offices within the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) union started participating in these food drives, including Martinez and Fairfield. Neil ended up serving as the NALC Branch Coordinator for the event for an astounding 17 years!

It’s not just his past work experience that makes Neil an asset to the Food Bank. Beyond his ideal resume is a deep empathy for others that is essential in pulling off a food drive of this magnitude.

Neil recalls, “When I was 10 years old, someone broke into our garage and cleaned out our extra freezer; nothing else was taken. I asked my parents if they were going to call the police and they said ‘no because they could have taken everything and they only took food and they can have it.’ That made a huge impression on me and I’ve held onto that.”

Having done the work himself, Neil can vouch to the tremendous effort the letter carriers put into this event. At the same time, he can offer some perspective on behalf of those who will end up receiving the food. “Working the food drive as a letter carrier is an incredibly difficult day, but it’s one day a year. Everyone is more than willing to pitch in and make it happen. We all realize it’s easier to work one very difficult day than it is to be struggling week after week, juggling bills and trying to feed your family nutritious food.”

When you are at the store this week, please pick up some extra nonperishable groceries and leave them in a bag by your mailbox before delivery on Saturday, May 11. Click here for our list of most needed food. Every can, bag and box of food makes a difference!

Local artists lend their talent to fight hunger

October 4, 2018 By Jenny

Anyone who has ever attended an Empty Bowls in the last 10 years can tell you that selecting the perfect keepsake bowl is like a mini treasure hunt. Ever wondered who is making these beautiful hand-crafted bowls?

This year alone, we have had over 600 bowls donated to us by a generous mix of local artists, ceramic/pottery students and instructors, and classroom volunteers. We are so thankful to all of those who support the Food Bank by donating the materials, labor and time to create these functional pieces of art. These bowls are meaningful mementoes that remind the attendees of the thousands of local people who battle hunger daily.

Lucy Snow, Ceramic Instructor at Los Medanos Community College, recently dropped off their contribution of 100 bowls! After four years of sculpting and glazing, she’s looking forward to attending Empty Bowls next weekend for the first time. She believes this partnership between the Food Bank and her school is mutually beneficial and “powerful.” She expanded, “Our volunteers are excited to help. It’s a chance to get their artwork out there for a great cause.”

It’s the kindness of others that allow us to help the food-insecure people within Contra Costa and Solano counties. We are thankful that we can count on our supporters time and time again.

Thanks to the following schools, artists and studios:

Cheryl Wolff Ceramics
Clay Creations
Color Me Mine Lafayette
Color Me Mine Walnut Creek
Contra Costa College
Los Medanos College
The Mad Potters
MAKE
Play with Clay
Red Ox Clay Studio
Richmond Art Center
Solano Community College
Toni Gates
Erik Scollon
Walnut Creek Clay Art Guild

Refinery Run assists Food Bank for 15 years

December 6, 2016 By Jenny

For 15 years, some of the Bay Area refineries including Tesoro Martinez Refinery, Shell Martinez Refinery, Valero Benicia Refinery and Phillips 66 Rodeo Refinery & Carbon Plant have come together to raise awareness and money for the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano with their annual Refinery Run event. In September employees, contract employees and contractors of the mentioned refineries fueled their “need to feed” by driving motorcycles and custom cars in support of our mission to end hunger. The month-long effort raised over $29,000 and 2,600 lbs of food. Thank you to all the coordinators and participants of the 15^th annual Refinery Run.

A special thank you to our sponsors:

Empty Bowls event fills hearts…and bellies

November 28, 2016 By Guest

Guest Post by Leslie Mladinich, Ambassador for Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano:

Ten gallons of soup at the Food Bank’s Empty Bowls event in Fairfield and Concord filled hand-sculpted, artisan craft bowls of local hunger fighters attending this important fundraiser– the meal and bowl a sober reminder that 1 in 8 of our food insecure neighbors can’t afford this simple luxury.

The attendees gathered under the roofs of the Food Bank’s Concord and Fairfield warehouses for the fun and poignant event that raised critical funds for Food Bank clients through event ticket and raffle sales, plus many corporate sponsorships. This year, rain fell outside during each location’s event over an October weekend, making the delicious smells of potato with bacon, vegetable and Italian bean soup even more tempting.

Bowls of every size, shape and color – crafted and donated by artists through the Walnut Creek Clay Arts Guild, Solano Community College, Los Medanos College, Richmond Art Center, Contra Costa College and Cheryl Wolf Ceramics – greeted and excited event attendees, who got to choose their bowl before sitting down for soup. Only the participants’ hands touched their bowls, as they were displayed by volunteers wearing gloves!

Some attendees have supported the Food Bank from afar for many years and wanted to do even more to help after watching a stirring video following the meal about Colleen, a Food Bank client. Colleen, like many of our neighbors, has to routinely choose between paying for medication or buying food.

First-time Empty Bowls attendee Sandy McCann of Antioch was one of them. McCann bought an event ticket which entitled her to a bowl. But she ended up leaving the event with three. Like some of the 150 participants in Concord, she was surprised to win the bowl at her table that held bread just by sitting in a lucky seat. When more bowls were for sale at the end of the evening, she completed her set of three blue bowls.

McCann has been giving to the Food Bank for many years, and she said it was great to finally see the operations during tours that were offered.

“We give through work,” she said of her Contra Costa County office in Martinez. “We have a donation bowl near the coffee machine. Half goes to a social event and half goes to the Food Bank.”

She said she wishes she could give more.

“If I were retired, I would be here all of the time volunteering,” she said.

The Empty Bowls event couldn’t be as successful without the scores of volunteers who helped, from Loaves and Fishes James Porter, who has supported Empty Bowls for years, to soup chefs Joseph Ramirez, Jonathan Snyder and Jehoshaphat Williams of Bay Area Rescue Mission. Long time Ambassadors Lois and Charlie Mitchell of Walnut Creek smiled with every ladle of soup they poured for participants.

“I got the opportunity to do something positive with my life,” said Snyder, one of the three soup chefs. “It was an honor to be able to help the community.”

Empty Bowls serves up a better understanding of local hunger

November 27, 2016 By Jenny

Friends and family recently came together to attend the Food Bank’s 8^th Annual Empty Bowls events in Concord and Fairfield. Thanks to the over 200 guests who came to enjoy tasty soups and left with beautiful keepsake hand-crafted bowls. Many were lucky enough to also leave with raffle prizes. All attendees walked away with the knowledge of how the Food Bank–with the support of the community–fights to end hunger.

View photos from the event on our Facebook page.

A special thank you to our sponsors and donors:

Soup & Bread Donors: Bay Area Rescue Mission | Loaves & Fishes | Tony’s 2 Go | Englunds’s Café and Catering | Boudin Bakery

Larry Sly: Empty Bowls Events Are Upcoming

October 5, 2016 By Jenny

Originally posted in The Reporter: People often think about our neighbors living with hunger as the holidays approach. With the help of the media, there is a more collective consciousness about the subject. The reality is that hunger is an issue 365 days a year and because of that, the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano holds an annual event at both of our warehouses called Empty Bowls.

This year Empty Bowls is being held at our Fairfield warehouse on Saturday, October 15 and at our Concord warehouse on Sunday, October 16. We invite you to come and learn about the ongoing issue of food insecurity in our community and what the Food Bank’s role is in combating the problem.

At this casual and family-friendly event, attendees will enjoy a serving of soup from a handcrafted ceramic bowl that they will get to select and take home. The intention is that people will use their bowl at home and be reminded of the people struggling year round to feed their families.

Please visit foodbankccs.org/emptybowls for more information and to purchase tickets.

When I consider how busy the “average” month is at the Food Bank, I am amazed that we increase our already full workload during the holiday season. I know it’s only October, but we have been preparing for the holidays for quite some time. We have spent the last several months working with our partner agencies to understand the programs they will be running during the holiday season.

The Food Bank provides the agencies with donated food and grocery certificates, so the families they serve can have a happy holiday. In order to do this, we organize over 800 food drives in our local communities.

Recently some wonderful volunteers put our new wraps on approximately 2,000 barrels for those food drives. These barrels with a sharp new look can be found in grocery stores, businesses, faith communities, and schools. The goal is fill them up with the 700,000 pounds of food we need to meet holiday demand.

In addition to food donations, financial contributions are crucial at this time of year. For every $1 donated to us, we can provide $3 worth of food. The financial support we receive from the community also helps us hire temporary seasonal drivers and warehouse workers so we can meet agency needs.

By partnering with local community nonprofit agencies the Food Bank is able to make the holidays a happier time for our neighbors in need. By creating ways for the community to give and get involved, we can make the holidays more meaningful.

The 25th Annual Food From the Bar Fund Drive Raises over $50K!

July 12, 2016 By Renee

This year 38 law offices in Contra Costa County, representing almost 700 employees, recently raised more than $55,000 and 224 pounds of food! The Food Bank sincerely thanks the local legal community and our generous sponsors for fighting hunger!

Winners of the 2016 Food From the Bar Competition:

1 – 5 Employees: Law Offices of Suzanne Boucher

6 – 10 Employees: Cooper, White & Cooper LLP

11 – 20 Employees: Bramson, Plutzik, Mahler & Birkhaeuser LLP

21 – 50 Employees: Gagen McCoy

51 and over Employees: Archer Norris

Thank you to the Food From the Bar Sponsors:

ADR Services

Aiken Welch Court Reporters

Archer Norris

Brown Gee & Wenger

Buchman Provine Brothers Smith LLP

Certified Reporting Services

Contra Costa County Bar Association

Esquire

Ferber Law

First Legal Network

Gagen, McCoy, McMahon, Koss, Markowitz & Raines, A Professional Corporation

Law Offices of Suzanne Boucher

McNamara, Ney, Beatty, Slattery, Borges & Ambacher LLP

Miller Starr Regalia

Newmeyer & Dillion LLP

QUiVX

Robert G. McGrath American Inn of Court

U.S. Legal Support

Vasquez Benisek & Lindgren LLP

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

The Recorder

Back Forty Texas BBQ

Success at 24th Annual Food From the Bar

July 17, 2015 By Rachel

In May, the Contra Costa County Bar Association held its 24th annual Food From the Bar fundraiser for the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.

Local lawyers and law firms went on a two-week fundraising blitz by 34 large and small law offices in the county, whose 700+ employees helped raise more than $51,350 and over 450 pounds of food.

Five winners in categories based on the size of the law firms have emerged.

The winners of the 2015 Food from the Bar Competition are:

1 – 5 Employees: Law Offices of Suzanne Boucher
6 – 10 Employees: Steele George Schofield & Ramos, LLP
11 – 20 Employees: Bramson, Plutzik, Mahler & Birkhaeuser, LLP
21 – 50 Employees: Bowles & Verna, LLP
51 and over Employees: Archer Norris

Congratulations to the winners and thank you for your generosity and dedication to the cause!

Over the years, the Bar Association has collected more than $1,150,000 and 55 tons of food for the Food Bank. The attorneys say they are already planning next year’s fundraiser and comedy show, as they work toward their second million in donations!

A special thank you to our sponsors; we could not have done this without your support!

Honoring 40 years of nourishing our community

June 11, 2015 By Larry

The Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano celebrated a significant milestone in May with our first annual Nourish gala honoring our 40th anniversary. The evening was a true retrospective because Linda Locke, the founder of the organization, was able to attend. The evening also represented our future by bringing together those who make our continuing work possible. Our presenting sponsor, Chevron, shared the evening with us along with seventeen other companies that represent the corporate support we receive. Current and past Board Members were also in attendance, along with private donors who make our work possible. Roberta Gonzales from KPIX CBS 5 did a fabulous job hosting the event, reflecting the media support we receive. The evening was truly a celebration of the community effort that makes the Food Bank thrive.

The event also showcased the community support we need to continue growing our work with the debut of the Kris Lesher-Aring Giving Circle. The Lesher family was kind enough to allow us to honor Kris’s belief that there is no reason anyone should be hungry in a land as prosperous as ours. We hope donors will help us in our work by honoring Kris Lesher-Aring’s lifelong concern for people in need.
For more information, contact Randy Street at 925-677-7002.

Please enjoy the video retrospective and photos by Lily Dong Photography at www.foodbankccs.org/40th.

Celebrating 40 Years Of Service To The Community

June 2, 2015 By Larry

Originally posted on the Vacaville Reporter: The Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano appreciates the many relationships that we have with the community. We depend on these alliances to help us achieve our mission.

The Food Bank relies on the individuals and organizations that donate food, so we can get it to those who need it the most. We value our partnerships with local nonprofit agencies, as they provide food to people who we don’t reach through direct distribution.

Because of the rapport we have with our volunteers, more than 80,000 hours of work is donated to our cause each year. And the connections we have with our financial donors allow us to effectively distribute more than 20 million pounds of food to those in need every year.

This year marks a milestone to celebrate these relationships as we acknowledge the 40th anniversary of the Food Bank’s work. We held our first annual Nourish gala on May 16 and this year we recognized 40 years of service. The event was held at Round Hill Country Club and we were joined by nearly 200 supporters. Donors were there from our lead corporate sponsor, Chevron, along with seventeen other corporate supporters. Roberta Gonzales, from KPIX CBS 5, was our emcee and raised the spirits of everyone in the room with her infectious energy. The enthusiasm Roberta generated was a great help when our fund raising auction began.

We began the live auction with my homemade lemon bars that I am “required” to make for every staff potluck at the Food Bank. They sold for $1,100, which made for an incredible beginning! We then auctioned off naming rights for one year to the sorting area in our Fairfield and Concord warehouses, generating $11,000.

The highlight of the live auction was when we came to the final item, “Feed the Need”. The Food Bank made the request for a new trailer to use to transport food. We asked attendees to contribute to the purchase of the trailer (building on the money generously donated the previous day in Valero’s skeet shoot fundraiser). Their response was amazing, and we raised more than $40,000! People gave because they wanted to make a difference; they wanted to help the Food Bank provide more food to those in need in our community. Through the generosity of those who supported our Nourish event, we raised more than $125,000 to help fight hunger in our community.

We also took a step forward in creating the Kris Lesher-Aring Giving Circle. These major donors will honor the memory of Kris Lesher-Aring who was involved in many philanthropic efforts before she passed away. Kris attended our 25th anniversary and spoke of her belief that there should not be hunger in a community as prosperous as ours. We know that many of our donors share her belief and this is a way to acknowledge those who give significant support to our efforts.

The gala was a time to acknowledge all that we have accomplished over the last 40 years and a time to look toward the future.

Food Bank To Hold Black-Tie Optional Fundraiser

May 12, 2015 By Larry

Originally posted on the Vacaville Reporter: The year was 1975. Gasoline cost $0.44 a gallon. The average cost of a home was $40,000. You could get a brand new car for $4,000. Even back then, although those prices seem like a bargain today, not everyone had enough food to get by. This is why the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano (then called the Community Food Coalition) formed and incorporated.

We were simply a group of people who were responding to the needs of our community. When someone applied for food stamps or other government assistance programs, there would often be delays in receiving benefits.

For people in that predicament, the eligibility worker would refer them to a local church or community center where they could get three days of food from local volunteer organizations. The Food Bank was created to help those organizations stretch their dollars by buying food in bulk and soliciting donations.

Little did we understand in 1975 the impact that the Food Bank would have in our community and how the need for food would grow.

Last year we provided over twenty million pounds of food to people in need in our local communities.

We work with nearly two hundred nonprofit service agencies and have a variety of direct service programs that bring food directly to low-income senior citizens, children and other people in need. We have a positive health impact on the people we serve because over half the food we distribute is fresh produce.

Everyone connected with the organization is incredibly proud of what we have been able to accomplish, but we struggle with using the term “celebration” to acknowledge our fortieth anniversary.

Some of us feel that it would truly be a cause for celebration if we didn’t have the need for food banks in a country that is as wealthy as the United States.

More importantly than looking back at what we’ve accomplished over the past 40 years, is the need to look forward. We need to focus on what needs to be done to get food in the hands of people who need it.

In addition to food donations, we need to raise money to pay the handling fees for the produce we distribute and for transporting it to our warehouse. We need to raise funds to pay for our trucks and drivers who bring the food to those we serve.

To honor 40 years of nourishing our community, we are holding a black-tie optional gala on Saturday, May 16. Nourish is our 1st annual Gala benefitting the Food Bank.

Money raised at the gala will help us accomplish the work we need to do in the coming years. For every dollar we receive, 0.96 goes directly to food programs.

If you would like to come to this dinner dance and auction fundraiser, visit www.foodbankccs.org/40th. On the web page you can RSVP to the event or make a donation if you want to help, but are unable to attend the gala.

Letter Carriers To Help Local Food Bank This Saturday

May 5, 2015 By Larry

Originally posted on the Vacaville Reporter: On Saturday, the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano will participate in the Letter Carriers’ Food Drive, the biggest one-day food drive in the nation. This will be the 23rd year that the letter carriers have organized this successful event that provides residents an easy way to donate food to help “Stamp Out Hunger” in their community.

On the day before Mother’s Day, letter carriers will pick up food donations during their normally scheduled mail route. To participate, all you need to do is pick up some extra nonperishable groceries at the store or gather some of the surplus unexpired and unopened food in your pantry.

The food needs to be placed in a sturdy bag next to your mailbox, prior to your regularly scheduled mail delivery.

If you are looking for ideas of what to donate, the recipients of our many food programs can always benefit from canned items such as tuna, chicken, meat, soup, fruit, vegetables and tomato products. Other items that are needed are peanut butter, iron-rich cereal, 100 percent fruit juice, dry beans, powdered milk, rice and pasta.

Last year the Food Bank received 170,000 pounds of food from this one-day event.

It takes a lot of coordination to pull off a food drive of this magnitude. The Food Bank has to do a great deal of work behind the scenes to process the donations efficiently.

However, as always, we couldn’t do it without the help of others. Safeway and Save Mart Supermarkets help by loaning us trailers. We use the trailers to collect the donated food from letter carriers’ trucks at consolidated distribution sites in strategic locations. We rely on hundreds of volunteers to help us gather the food at these collection sites throughout the day.

This year we also received financial support from organized labor to help us purchase the bags we distributed to postal customers.

The biggest heroes of the day are the letter carriers themselves. They are the eyes and ears of their communities and they want to take action to help our neighbors who are struggling.

Residents often donate a bag of groceries as a gesture of support to not only the local food banks, but their letter carriers as well. They appreciate the hard work that letter carriers put in on a daily basis and know that this drive is important to them.

The food we receive from this food drive allows us to stock the shelves to feed children in the summer. Child hunger is more of an issue during summer than any other time of year. This is due to many low-income children not receiving the free or reduced-priced breakfast and lunches that they normally receive at school.

Letter carriers have been encouraging neighbors to help one another for 23 years through their annual food drive.

They know they are going to be extra tired at the end of their shift this Saturday. However, they will have the satisfaction of knowing that they, along with the generous residents on their routes, will have made a real difference to so many in need.

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