Berkeley Food Pantry

Thank you Anytime Fitness Berkeley for your support 🙏❤️

Flex your generosity this November with our Annual Thanksgiving Food Drive! We will collect donations in the designated bin in our main lobby through November 20th to support Berkeley Food Pantry and help feed families in need in our community this holiday season. 🍂

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬:
🔸 Boxes of teabags
🔸 Brown or white rice
🔸 Canned meats
🔸 Canned soups
🔸 Cooking oil
🔸 Energy or snack bars
🔸 Ground coffee
🔸 Healthy snacks for kids
🔸 Ketchup, mustard, salad dressing, and mayonnaise
🔸 Low-sugar breakfast cereal
🔸 Pasta and pasta sauce
🔸 Peanut butter
🔸 Seasoning
🔸 Shelf-stable non-dairy milk
🔸 Shelf-stable tofu

Thank you in advance for your support! 🙏

**𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘭𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘸𝘸.𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘺𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺.𝘰𝘳𝘨.**

Summer & Fall 2023 Berkeley Food Pantry Newsletter🌴🥭🍉🌳⚾ -

Summer & Fall 2023 Berkeley Food Pantry Newsletter🌴🥭🍉🌳⚾ The Berkeley Food Pantry continues to experience high demand. The Wednesday before the holiday weekend, staff and volunteers served more than 130 households in a 2-hour period! We continue to partner with other organizations to bring more resources to households. Eviction Defense Center continues to...

Big News!

Dharma Galang, our program director, has stepped down from her role at the Berkeley Food Pantry, so she can transition into a new position at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. We wish her the best of luck in her new role and thank her for her years of dedication to the Berkeley Food Pantry!

Jonas Osmond will step in as interim director for the pantry. We are excited to have him join our team. Please see Jonas Osmond's personal introduction to all of you in his own words:

"I grew up in Berkeley and Oakland, California and always gravitated toward food. I worked at Zachary’s Chicago pizza, Monterey Fish market, Acme, Bakery, Chez Panisse, and ultimately the Cheeseboard Collective.

Later, I taught English as a second language, and have worked in 11 countries.

I lived in Europe for many years, and earned my living as a comedian and actor.

I returned to ESL, and became a company director in Berkeley, San Francisco, Manhattan, Miami, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Toronto, and Philadelphia. Then, I became a North American Director, overseeing all our North American locations.

Currently , I am a residential real estate agent and I love my job!

I love animals, theater, film, riding my bicycle, nature, and cooking.

I believe good, nutritious food, and safe, cozy living spaces are for everybody! "

Thank you to everyone who came to the August 2023 Berkeley Neighborhood Food Project Harvest Day. We collected around 2,000 pounds of food for the Berkeley Food Pantry. A special thank you to Berkeley Cub Scout Pack 30 and two former volunteers (who now live on the peninsula) for coming out to the event and helping us transport, weight, sort, and store food. 🙏

Thank you CalMatters.org for continuing to bring attention to this crisis.

The lines at California’s food banks keep getting longer.

Most food banks are reporting that they’re serving as many as 50% more people than at the beginning of the year, according to the statewide association.
https://cal.news/3Ozc5KY

📝 Rya Jetha
📸 Shelby Knowles

Home deliveries are completed. We will be open for on-site distribution until 4 p.m. today.

A reminder, the Berkeley Food Pantry is open until
4 p.m. today.

We have wonderful produce from Laney's Garden Laney College ❤️. 🙏🙏 to the wonderful volunteers who transport the garden produce to the Berkeley Food Pantry.

Thank you neighbors for bringing us your bounty from your 🍎 🍏 🍎 trees! for

"The traditional way of looking at poverty in the United States” focuses on those who are experiencing it, ... Most economists point out that people living in poverty may have less education and fewer skills, and some health problems, ...That certainly explains who tends to lose out at this ‘game’. But that’s only explaining who isn’t finding a chair. It doesn’t explain why there aren’t enough chairs in the first place.”

-Mark Robert Rank, a sociology professor at Washington University in St. Louis

‘Why aren’t there enough chairs in the first place?’: What the U.S. gets wrong about poverty "The Poverty Paradox" author says tackling inequality requires looking beyond, and not blaming, individuals.

A reminder, the Berkeley Food Pantry is open until 4 p. m. today.

Home deliveries in progress. 🚚🚐

Thank you wonderful volunteers 🙏

"But with the public health emergency over, students already receiving SNAP benefits had until June 30 to recertify and stay in the program under the pandemic-era rules. The expanded SNAP eligibility will only last one more year, and the entire program will revert to pre-pandemic rules at varying points over the next year, depending on individual state schedules."

College students struggling with food insecurity face potential loss of food stamp benefits Many college students who are struggling with hunger are facing the potential loss of SNAP benefits or food stamps.

Home deliveries in progress. A reminder, we will be serving households on-sites from 2 p. m. to 4 p. m. today.

Home deliveries in progress. A reminder, the Berkeley Food Pantry is open until 4 p. m. today.

"The process begins when a sponsor donates money or the supplies needed to install the garden, picking a bed size and location. Fernandez and his team then install the garden bed and ensure the recipient has the necessary means and knowledge to cultivate food through the growing season."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/can-community-gardens-combat-food-insecurity-this-nonprofit-says-yes/ar-AA1dXvbz

Would you like to help deliver groceries to Berkeley and Albany households? We need volunteers who can deliver groceries between 1-3 p. m. on a weekday (Monday, Wednesday, or Friday). Please email [email protected] if you are available.

Delivieries in progress 🚙🚗

A reminder, the Berkeley Food Pantry is open until
4 p.m. today.

"California is the first state to promise all 6 million public school students free meals thanks to the landmark state budget agreement Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law last July after the passage of Assembly Bill 130."

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/food/story/california-1st-state-offer-free-meals-school-kids-88290584

Home deliveries in progress. A reminder, we will serve households in person at 2:00 p. m.

“I had no knowledge of the severity of this issue and was embarrassed that our country has stationed so many military families here but is not paying them enough to live in San Diego.”

-Vince Hall, the former CEO at Feeding San Diego

Food Insecurity Is Common in the US Military. Will Congress Vote to Expand Benefits? Increasing the Basic Allowance for Subsistence program can help service members feed their families. Congress has a chance to expand benefits.

A big thank you to Daily Bread Berkeley for bringing us donated produce from the Kensington Farmers' Market every week. The Berkeley and Albany households we serve will be so happy to see it in their bags☺️

A big thank you to Karina, a research assistant at UC Berkeley, for bringing us potatoes on Fridays 😁

Helen from Spectrum Community Services, Inc. is at the Berkeley Food Pantry this afternoon to talk about assistance for energy bills for low income households. Please stop by her table if you have the chance.

Getting ready to serve clients in person. A reminder, we will serve households between 2-4 p.m. today.

We have an update to Berkeley Food Pantry's list of holiday/closure dates for 2023. We will be closed on Friday, August 25th for building construction. We are sorry for any inconveniences.

Starting the day....

A reminder, the Berkeley Food Pantry is open until 4 p.m. today.

"Food banks were supposed to be temporary, said David Froh at the Regina Food Bank, which has now been operating for 40 years. He's one of several directors who said they're hoping for systemic solutions to poverty and hunger that would ensure people have adequate incomes, and that they could afford to buy enough food."

'We’re addressing the symptom, not the cause': A look at food banks across Canada The word "crisis" comes up quickly when speaking with those who run food banks across Canada. With inflation driving food prices higher while wages and support programs lag behind, numerous directors say demand at Canada's food banks is greater than ever. In some cities, food banks have been forced....