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Sometimes two full-time jobs aren’t enough to support a family in the Bay Area. Jorge and Silvia Medina of Richmond work hard to provide for their young boys. However, their combined incomes don’t cover all of their basic expenses.

Jyoti and Sundar first communicated online on Valentine’s Day 2017 via a dating app. Two weeks later, after having spent some time talking on the phone, they went on their first date.

As they describe it, “In the weeks and months that followed, those initial sparks of curiosity, attraction & questioning of ‘could this really be real’ blossomed into adventures and a love that is oh so really real.” The two were engaged in July.

Instead of a traditional gift registry, they requested that their well-wishers donate to one of their three selected charities. They contacted the Food Bank and set up a personalized donation page for them. They shared the link with their loved ones via their wedding website with this message:

“Thank you for blessing our marriage. We appreciate having such generous friends and family, and we are fortunate to have all we need. Please donate to help families in our community who do not.”

Their selfless act has raised over $4,300 for the Food Bank so far; that’s enough to serve 8,600 meals!

On behalf of the people we serve, we wish the newlyweds a lifetime of happiness.

Make a gift to the Food Bank in honor of the happy couple before their fundraiser ends on Valentine’s Day.

Our friends at the Napa Valley Food Bank are not only contending with the aftermath of the North Bay fires, but they also suffered the unexpected passing of a key operations staff member (prior to the fires). We have been able to lend a hand so they can continue to serve their community.

Our Food Sorting Coordinator, Dan Tagliareni, initially started conducting bi-monthly visits to Napa. He was able to provide much-needed relief by coordinating the sorting and storing of food donations and he helped them move more than 10,000 pounds of food during his visits.

In coming up with a long-term response to help our neighbors to the north, it was decided that we’d continue to process their food donations. However, it made more sense to do so in our warehouse where we have more space and volunteers. This change has allowed us to increase efficiency significantly. Dan shared, “We are learning from each other new and different ways to work with food donations.”

Four months have passed since the fires. The food banking community is a tight one and we are happy to help in times like these. The headlines might have faded, but we know the need for food has not.

Here are some tips on how to easily fight hunger at your holiday gatherings. When you party with a purpose, you’re providing holiday meals to the 1 in 8 neighbors who need help with food.

Set a Goal – Will you collect funds or food? We can provide $3 worth of nutritious food for every $1 donated. Create a custom party page on our virtual fundraising site with your goal in mind.

Choose a Theme – Decorate boxes and bags to collect nonperishable food donations. Add signs about donations to a table at the event or request materials from the Food Bank to share about hunger during the holidays.
Encourage Donations – A simple line in invitations and reminders stating, “Donations (of food and/or funds) for the Food Bank will be gratefully accepted” with a link to your fundraising page will be effective.
Enjoy Your Event! – Take photos to share with your friends on social media. Don’t forget to tag @foodbankccs!
Bring it All Together – Gather all the funds or food collected at your event and take it to the Food Bank to have it counted or weighed. We will update you with a total of all that you did. If no receipt is needed, food can be dropped off at local collection barrels like the ones at Safeway (Please don’t leave money in the barrels).

Thank you for including the Food Bank in your holiday celebrations. Together we can make the holidays more hopeful for our neighbors in need. 

This summer the Food Bank was presented with the Green Business Award from the City of Fairfield. We were recognized for our reuse and recycling practices and for successfully implementing waste reduction. Our waste numbers continue to decrease thanks to our Grocery Recovery Program, AIB recycling procedures, FIFO inventory system and the commitment by our staff and volunteers.

We are also pleased to announce we now have an organics/compost bin at our Concord warehouse. Thanks to Mt Diablo Resource Recovery (formerly known as Concord Disposal Service), bread and fruit that is not fit for consumption is being diverted from the landfills to become healthy garden soil.

Read more about our green initiatives.