Second Harvest of Silicon Valley

“I am always limiting myself in things that are not essential, for example the internet. Right now, I don't have cable. We are limited in things that we don't need, things like clothes, shoes, all that. Not essential.”

Reyna is a 49-year-old mother of two, who moved from Los Angeles to San Jose two years ago, only to find herself facing high housing prices. She lives with her husband and two teenage daughters, Jenny (15) and Leslie (17), in an ADU behind another house. While her husband works in construction, Reyna cleans homes one or two days a week.

She has been attending the distribution at St. Vianney's for a year and a half and shared:

"For me, this food has been so helpful because everything I receive, I use. It is something that has helped me from the moment I came here. I don't waste anything. I’m just happy that I can offer my kids healthy food so they can grow in so many aspects. That makes me feel good.”

We are thrilled to join Albertsons Companies Foundation and other partners in a first-of-its-kind coalition to help tackle summer hunger through U.S. Department of Agriculture's new, permanent Summer EBT program, also called SUN Bucks in California. To ensure as many families as possible benefit from Summer EBT, we have teamed up with partners Feeding America, Food Research & Action Center, Gift Card Bank, Hunger Free America, mRelief, No Kid Hungry, Partnership for a Healthier America News, and WhyHunger to reach over 200 food banks, 300 school districts and community organizations, and over 1500 partner organizations through this campaign. Families can receive $120 for groceries per eligible child. Check if you’re eligible at SummerEBT.org.

As this fiscal year comes to a close, we're thrilled to share the incredible advocacy victories we've achieved together despite state budget challenges:

🥗 Fully Funded CA School Meals for All: Secured an impressive $1.85 billion to ensure every child has access to nutritious school meals.

🍓 SUN Bucks (Summer EBT): Allocated $146.8 million in the budget for outreach and automation, providing an estimated $1 billion in federal food assistance for summer 2025. That's $120 per child for low-income families!

🍎 Market Match & Fruit and Veggie Pilot: Continued funding to help CalFresh recipients buy more fresh fruits and vegetables.

🌟 Food4All: Dedicated funds to expand a CalFresh-like benefit to immigrants over 55 who aren't eligible for federal CalFresh.

Together, we're making strides to ensure no Californian goes hungry. Thank you for supporting our advocacy efforts! 🌟✨

Now through July 23, Safeway is proudly collecting donations in-store to support local food banks and hunger relief organizations. You can donate $10 at the check stand to help nourish our neighbors. ❤️🥫

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley Our mission is to end hunger in our community.

Throwback Thursday! 🌟 Did you know that in 1974, The Food Bank started with a retired nine-year-old military pickup truck with a shaky clutch, delivering nearly 7,000 lbs of food in our first month? Our team was small but mighty, with just a director, a driver, a secretary, and a warehouse worker.

Fast forward to today, and we now operate a fleet of 35 trucks! Last year alone, we distributed an average of 10 million pounds of food each month – that’s more than 250 truckloads! 🚚💪

🌽 Our warehouse is bursting with golden goodness! Did you know corn is packed with fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants? We’re dedicated to providing nutritious options for all.

“The people are wonderful here. The volunteers are super nice, they’re welcoming, they’re organized, and everything goes smoothly. And they like petting my dog." - Kevin

Willie is a rescue dog from Arizona who lives in Half Moon Bay with his owner, Kevin. Together, they frequent a free grocery site distribution in San Mateo County. He shares, "Don’t be shy to come out and get food. There’s no judgment. It’s just people helping people.”

Celebrate Independence Day by making a difference! 🇺🇸❤️ 1 in 6 in our community relies on Second Harvest. Help us reach our $15,000 goal, with every donation matched until August 15 by a generous Silicon Valley family.

Double your impact: https://shfb.online/fourthofjuly

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley Our mission is to end hunger in our community.

Celebrate the 4th with a burst of flavor! Make yogurt bark: a fun, nutritious treat. Just mix yogurt with honey, coconut flakes, nuts, and seeds. Freeze & enjoy! 🍓🇺🇸

Frozen Fruit Yogurt Bark Yogurt bark is a fun way to create a nutritious snack or dessert - you only need a few ingredients, some imagination and time in the freezer.

Meet Randy! 🌟 At 75, this Marine Corps veteran from Okinawa, originally from Detroit but raised in the Bay Area, is grateful for the support he receives from our food bank. Despite spinal stenosis since July 2023, he stays strong with the help of his brother who drives him here. 🚗

Randy appreciates the effort we put into providing nutritious food, especially the fresh fruit he loves! 🍎🍌 “It saves us a lot of money to get food here,” he says.

Join us in celebrating and supporting community members like Randy who make our work so rewarding.

🍎 Nourishing our communities is at the heart of what food banks do day-in and day-out. The charitable food system began to address food insecurity and alleviate food waste and has now evolved into a network of food banks and pantries providing access to nutritious foods, robust nutrition education and additional safety-net resources.

As we evolve with how we show up for our communities, the language we use is evolving too. Read about the importance of nutrition security in nourishing our communities in our latest blog post: https://shfb.online/nutritionsecurity

In January, we met Najla, a political refugee from Afghanistan. Initially, Najla, her husband Aaqil, and their two-year-old son Armin were staying at an extended-stay hotel near our food distribution. Six months later, we learned that they moved into their new apartment on the west side of San Jose.

Najla shared she misses the community that she had among other Afghans who were living back at the extended stay hotel. Aaqil works a lot, and Najla is home alone most days entertaining Armin. In her loneliness, she says she has stopped pursuing her online education in computer sciences because she lost the motivation. Instead, Najla explains, “I want to work,” to contribute to household expenses, but it has been tough finding in-person employment opportunities that fit her husband’s work schedule.

In Afghanistan, Najla dreamed of driving, which women couldn't do under the Taliban. Now, she has her driver’s permit and practices in empty parking lots. Aaqil proudly mentioned she recently drove them to a nearby grocery store. They have been buying food because they did not realize that free food from Second Harvest was available at distributions all over San Jose. They have been connected to our Food Connection team for support.

We are proud to provide nutritious produce and groceries to our neighbors, thanks to the generosity of our community. Here’s a glimpse of what our clients receive at local food distributions. 🥕🍎

As summer begins, hundreds of thousands of kids lose access to school meals, driving a record-high need for food assistance in Silicon Valley. Currently, 1 in 6 of our neighbors relies on Second Harvest. With rising food and fuel costs, our budget is under pressure, and community donations are down. 🚚

We urgently need to raise $4 million by June 30 to meet our $71 million goal. Your support today can directly benefit your community, helping neighbors and nonprofit partners access free, nutritious food. Make a tangible difference in your community now: https://shfb.online/give 🌟🍽️

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley Our mission is to end hunger in our community.

🍊 Village Harvest, a Northern California nonprofit dedicated to feeding those in need and promoting sustainable urban resources, recently partnered with Second Harvest to donate thousands of pounds of Valencia oranges and Eureka lemons. Little hands and dedicated volunteers worked together, filling buckets with fresh, healthy fruit. Thank you, Village Harvest, for making a difference one tree at a time! 🍋🧡

Our CEO, Leslie Bacho, joined a press conference at San Jose State University to unveil the 2024 Silicon Valley "Pain Index." The report sheds light on structural inequities in Silicon Valley to inform impactful policies.

Key highlights:

🏡 San José is the #1 most expensive large city in the U.S., with average monthly expenses of $3,504. A household needs $468,252 to buy a home in the San José metro area, making it the least affordable metro area in the nation.

💰 Just .001% of Silicon Valley households hold $110 billion, 12 times more than the bottom 50% combined, up from 6x last year.

🥕 Second Harvest of Silicon Valley provides groceries to 500,000 clients monthly, up 40,000 from last year, serving enough food for over 104 million meals in FY 2022-23.

Dive into the report:

Silicon Valley Pain Index | Human Rights Institute An annual report on the state of inequality and quality of life for San José and Silicon Valley residents.

It's National Smoothie Day! 🥤 Enjoy this refreshing fruit and veggie smoothie for breakfast or on-the-go. It’s an easy way to add more nutritious greens to your day. 🍎🥬

Energizing Green Smoothie You'll be satisfied - and surprised - with this green smoothie. It's sweet and packed with nutrients, without the added sugar. All natural!

🌞 Summer is officially here! 🌞 We need volunteers like you to make a difference! Join us at one of our warehouses or distribution sites to ensure families and kids can access nutritious groceries this summer.

Malia said, “Anybody can need food. Anybody can need assistance. Even people who you don't expect. Pretty much all of the big stacks of food are gone by the end of the day, which just shows how many people need this food and how important Second Harvest is for this community.” 🌽🍎🥕

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley Our mission is to end hunger in our community.

📅 Our warehouses will be closed today in observance of Juneteenth. ✊🏾 As we commemorate this important holiday, we want to express the gratitude we feel every day for the work our local community does in hopes of a more equitable future. 🌟

This week's produce includes a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, such as melons, grapefruit, corn and plums. 🌞🍈🌽 Perfect for summer! Thanks to our wonderful community of supporters, we can distribute these nutritious items to our neighbors.

Gabriel is a devoted father and grandfather from San Mateo. At 58, he shares a two-bedroom apartment with his wife Carmela, their children, and grandchildren. After losing his job last November, Gabriel has taken on the role of caregiver for his young daughter and granddaughter while his wife works as a cook.

“Every Friday I say, ‘we’re going to get food today!’ as I see in my refrigerator and we don’t have any more food,” Gabriel shares. “We can't afford all the bills so we’re in need and that’s why we come here, to get food.”

Despite their struggles, Gabriel is grateful for the support they receive: “I start thinking how much broccoli, fruit, and milk I’m going to get for my girls. I thank God for the people with a kind heart who help others because we are in need of this food. With this economy, we can’t afford it.” 🥦🍓🥛

This Father’s Day, let’s come together to support fathers like Gabriel. If we can raise $20,000 from our community by midnight on June 16, an anonymous Second Harvest supporter will match the amount.

Match your Father's Day gift: https://shfb.online/fathersday

🍉 Our distribution sites are brimming with fresh produce! With the warm looming summer weather upon us, a special thanks to our Produce Sourcing and Quality Manager, Emily, for keeping our shelves stocked with perfect summer favorites like watermelons.

When we met Irma in 2022, she had just started earning again as a dental assistant after the pandemic. She had significant credit card debt and relied on free grocery distributions to feed herself and her son.

Today, Irma is still climbing out of debt, driving her gas-guzzling truck, and working weekends to make ends meet. But she happily reports she recently got a raise:

“When my boss told me that I would receive a raise, I cried. With this increase, I can make payments on things I need, like fixing my car, but mainly on my credit cards. I can now save money, something I couldn't do before."

Irma reached out recently after volunteering in our warehouse. Being a client made her appreciate the volunteers' work even more:

"Something that surprised me was the scale of the operation. Everything was very organized and clean. What I liked the most was the feeling that I helped others.”

📢 Important Update: To better serve our community, we must make the best use of our limited resources, and that means we will be moving out of our Brennan warehouse, which will close by Aug 31st. As we shift to farmer’s market client choice sites, we urgently need volunteers and site leaders at distribution sites. Your support is crucial in helping us provide food to 500,000 neighbors facing food insecurity monthly. Take action now - join us and volunteer at a site or our Cypress warehouse this summer to ensure our neighbors can continue to access nutritious groceries!

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley food bank to close its largest warehouse Second Harvest of Silicon Valley is closing its biggest storage warehouse, marking a big blow for a food bank that is already dealing with a huge need. Scott Budman reports.

“I think you would be surprised to see how joyous volunteering really is. I didn't really know until I came for the first time, and now I will never give it up until my body gives out.

I would encourage people to try volunteering, maybe come with a friend, a colleague, or a bunch of colleagues. We welcome everybody, and that is how it starts." - Wendy, volunteer

Tag or send this post to a friend you'd love to volunteer with this summer! 🌞🤝

🐞 Guess who joined our marketing team during a volunteer shift at a distribution site in Mission College? A lucky ladybug! Volunteering with friends or colleagues is a great way to bond and give back to the community. Bring your team this summer and make a difference together! ☀️

“One thing about immigrants is they are taught to always leave a place better than you found it. My dad would tell me this as a child, and I never connected the dots until I became an adult. I understand what that means. Organizations like yours allow me to make this a better community than how I found it by donating my time and resources.”

Tony was inspired to attend a free grocery distribution with other Second Harvest board members so he could make an immediate difference in his Hispanic/Latino community. Volunteers spent time loading boxes of food directly into the cars of clients seeking food assistance. When asked why others should volunteer, Tony said, “This is a tangible opportunity where you can literally see how your efforts benefit the community.”

🍅☀️ June is National Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Month! Nothing says summer like our warehouse bustling with the vibrant colors of these juicy tomatoes.