Bay Area food banks unite as donations plummet
In an unprecedented step, the Bay Area's major food banks recently came together to stress the need for help this holiday season.
Food bank volunteers and staff members throughout the Bay Area are working as hard as ever this holiday season. The need is unprecedented, and support is not keeping up with demand.
So much so, the leaders of five major food banks in the region recently teamed up for the first time to shine a spotlight on the issue of food insecurity.
"As the five regional food banks serving every county in the Bay Area, we have gathered here today to sound the alarm," said Leslie Bacho, CEO of Second Harvest of Silicon Valley.
Bacho was joined by Executive Director of the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank Tanis Crosby, President and CEO of the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano Caitlin Sly, President and CEO of Redwood Empire Food Bank Allison Goodwin, and Alameda County Community Food Bank Executive Director Regi Young.
Collectively, their organizations provided enough food for 270 million meals in the Bay Area last year.
"Right now, we're in a situation in which we have to do a lot more with a lot less resources," said Young.
Bacho says it's due to a variety of factors, including cost of living and a decrease in federal funding.
"Along with the skyrocketing cost of living, insufficient government support for programs like CalFresh is pushing more people than ever before into food insecurity," Bacho said.
Crosby says in June of 2025, the SF-Marin Food Bank has to nix a pop-up program created during the pandemic that will ultimately decrease their reach by around 10,000 households.
"Bottom line is, our resources have declined since those pandemic-era heights. So services will also decline," she said.
The pandemic shined a spotlight on hunger, but just because it isn't visible the way it once was doesn't mean the need has gone away.
"All of those gains that we made during the pandemic have gone away, because government has decided that those priorities are not the priorities today," Young said.
Goodwin says every dollar does make a difference in helping food banks be there for their communities.
"We want to remain nimble, and we need to do that with safety net support," she said.
Sly says people of all ages require assistance from food banks. She hears from many people who work multiple jobs.
"Their jobs don't pay enough to pay for the high cost of living here in the Bay Area," she said. "Other folks might be seniors living on fixed incomes. The cost of living goes up but their income doesn't, so they need our help regularly."
Fletcher Stanford has lived through food insecurity.
"Who can I talk to? What should I do? How am I going to feed my family? You just feel totally lost," he said.
He now volunteers to help those who are hungry.
"Have hope. Second Harvest is out there. The food banks are out there. There are other resources that you can go to," he said.
The leaders of the food banks say they're very efficient with donations. One dollar translates to two meals. Right now, many have match programs in place that will amplify the power of a donation.
"This is a problem that deserves the attention of our elected leaders," Crosby said. "This is a call to action and a call to care. Every hour and every dollar – it does make a difference."