Exchange Cans of Soup for Cheesecake

The Cheesecake Factory’s Drive Out Hunger 30-Day/30-Market Bus Tour hits our local area on Wednesday, September 2nd.

Come by the Cheesecake Factory Valley Fair (3041 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara, CA 95050) from 7:00-10:00am and and enjoy a slice of decadence. The first 500 guests who donate two cans of soup will receive a free slice of Stefanie’s Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake and all donors will receive a special gift to use on a future visit.

Never Underestimate the Power of an Act of Kindness.

I love working at Second Harvest Food Bank. Every day, I witness caring citizens donating time, energy, food, and money to help feed people who they will most likely never meet.

Their generosity never fails to reaffirm my faith in the goodness of humanity.

Recently, I learned of an act of kindness that still brings tears to my eyes.

It started with Carolee Hazard helping out Jenni Ware, a stranger who was in front of her in the checkout line at the grocery store. When it came time for Ware to pay for her groceries, she discovered she had lost her wallet. Seeing that Ware was obviously in distress, Hazard paid for Ware’s groceries with her own credit card, asking Ware to send her a check when she found her wallet.

To find out how this amazing act of trust and kindness ultimately ended up benefitting Second Harvest, read this Mercury News story.

Zombies support the Food Bank

On August 26, hundreds of people are expected to show up for Zombie-o-Rama in downtown San Jose. This year, event organizer Dan Vado of SLG publishing has set up a food drive to compliment the Zombie Crawl and film showing of "Shaun of the Dead".

A barrel will be set up at the movie site (Starlight Cinema) as well as at Zombie-O-Rama HQ (otherwise known as the SLG Art Boutiki).

"We're all looking for ways to make it through this very hard time, so the stuff that really resonates with people is about community," Vado says. "The first rule in a zombie apocalypse is to stick together, because that's the only way to survive."

I never thought I'd find myself in a position where I wanted to thank a pack of zombies... But wow, thanks guys!

More information available on the Zombie-O-Rama blog, at Zombieorama.com and in this Mercury News article.

Photo by Josie Lepe, Mercury News

Target volunteers help get fresh produce out to local families in need

Recently, Target team members put their energies to good use by helping bag plums in our San Jose warehouse.

These hard working volunteers bagged a total of 4,263 pounds of the fresh fruit in just a few short hours.

Later that day, the plums were loaded onto a Food Bank truck for distribution to 162 low-income families in East San Jose who participate in the Food Bank’s Family Harvest program. Pears, watermelon, cantaloupe, bell peppers, corn-on-the-cob, celery, potatoes, onions, eggs, tortillas, pasta, rice, beans, peanut butter, bread, cereal, and whole chickens were also included in the distribution.

Store Team Leader Meredith Klausner said that Target employees are always very generous with their time. Their work at the Food Bank is a great example of how everyone pitches in to help people in need in their local community.

Kathy Jackson welcomed as new Food Bank CEO

Kathy Jackson joins Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties as Chief Executive Officer

With experience in non-profit board management and more than 20 years in the financial services industry, Kathy has a proven track record of success in leading and growing large and small non-profit and for-profit organizations.

Prior to joining the Food Bank, Kathy served on the Board of Directors for the Foundation for the Future, acting as Annual Campaign Chair (2006 - 2007) and President (2007- 2009). In her roles, she led a 33-person Board in raising funds to support public Menlo-Atherton High School. Between 2006 and 2009, donations increased more than 100% while expenses grew less than 33%.

Prior to entering the non-profit world, Kathy managed various line businesses as a senior-level executive with finance-based corporations in the Bay Area, specifically Bank of America Leasing and Capital, GATX Capital Corporation and D’Accord Incorporated. She also served as Vice Chair of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, a trade association representing financial services companies and manufacturers in the $650 billion U.S. equipment finance sector.

Kathy has an MBA in Marketing, Finance and Accounting from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford University.

Contact Kathy Jackson

Take Action: Help Restore the Brown Bag Program for Seniors

Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties and other food banks throughout California receive state funds for the Brown Bag Program for seniors.

During the recent State budget process Governor Schwarzenegger's made the bold move of doing a line-item veto of the Brown Bag Program. Basically, he removed the program from the State budget!

In fiscal year 2008/09, our Brown Bag Program provided groceries to over 10,800 senior households. This amounted to over 10,400,800 pounds of food for the elderly. Many of these low-income seniors are struggling, and the Brown Bag Program provides their primary source of food. They are being forced to choose between spending their money on rent, utilities, prescription medications, or food. For them, purchasing enough food to survive is a daily challenge. The Brown Bag Program provides a critical service to ensure that people have the basic necessity of life: nutrition.

The Impact
Brown Bag recipients are primarily women receiving SSI/SSP who, through a string of budget deals, have just seen their stipends cut. Additionally, the Brown Bag Program provides critical funding to food banks. Approximately $20,000 per provider may not seem like much to make a program operate and grow, but it is critical to smaller food banks.

Return on Investment
The Brown Bag Program makes efficient use of state funds. Every dollar invested by the state provides to seniors approximately $40 in food and services from the local community. The program is currently funded at $541,000, which means the program leverages over $21 million in food and services for seniors, all of which will be lost if the Governor's veto stands.

Take a few easy steps to help restore the Brown Bag Program:

• Download, fill out and fax this flyer (pdf) to all the Assembly members and Senators in your service area, as well as the Assembly and Senate leadership. Fax numbers for all legislators and the leadership are listed on the second page of the flyer.


• Spread the word. Email the flyer to your coworkers, friends, and other people who will want to take action.


• Update and fax this sample letter from your organization to legislative leaders asking them to restore the Brown Bag Program.

Photo: One of Second Harvest's long-time Mountain View Brown Bag volunteers

Membership Fees for Distribution Agencies Waived in Step to Relieve Struggling Partners

Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties becomes the first food bank in California to stop charging membership fees to their partner agencies

Up to now, Second Harvest's 325+ partner agencies have paid a small annual fee based on size. These fees helped cover costs such as warehousing and distribution. With the current economy, the Food Bank realized that many of their partner agencies were struggling financially, so the decision was made not to charge this fee. Staff at the Food Bank is looking for other ways to make up the money, totaling close to $134,000.

"Waiving the fees was a tough decision," said Cindy McCown, Senior Director of Programs and Services. "We budget for this income, but many of partner agencies are struggling to keep their doors open. Without them, we would not be able to get much-needed food out into the community."

The Food Bank's partner agencies are grateful for the help.

David Cox is Executive Director at St. Joseph’s Family Center in Gilroy. "Prior to this announcement, we would have assumed that the fees would have increased in these difficult economic times. We have always felt that the fees assessed were extremely reasonable and we were always glad to pay them. We will put the savings to good use as we continue our efforts to meet the ever-growing need of food assistance and healthy nutrition in south Santa Clara County."

Poncho Guevara is Executive Director of Sacred Heart Community Services in San Jose. "At a time where resources are stretched to the breaking point, Second Harvest has stepped up in so many ways. This latest example of leadership gives hope that we will not only weather this downturn, but together we will confront these unprecedented needs and emerge stronger."

Second Harvest is part of a network of 205 food banks nationwide working to end domestic hunger. Charging partner agency fees or a per pound fee based on the amount of food being provided is standard and is an important source of money for most food banks. On average, 18% of other food banks' income comes from these agency fees. Second Harvest has a long-standing commitment to strengthening the network of community agencies in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. This led to their important commitment, despite pressure on their own budget.