Boy Scouts Go Door-to-Door to Collect Food for Bay Area Food Banks on Nov. 15

Nationwide food drive helps meet crucial need for Thanksgiving

San Jose, CA – November 10, 2014 -- One of the nation’s largest single-day food drives takes place Saturday, Nov. 15, when Boy Scouts will go door-to-door collecting nonperishable food items for local food banks.

In the Bay Area, more than 30,000 Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Venturers, Explorers and their supporters will be “Scouting for Food” by picking up boxed or bagged nonperishable food items placed on doorsteps by 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 15.

The Mt. Diablo Silverado Council, which encompasses the Contra Costa, Solano, Napa and parts of  Alameda counties, collected 136,000 pounds of food last year. Other Boy Scout Councils of the Greater Bay Area will also be participating in the drive resulting in approximately 500,000 pounds of food being collected.

Residences on the Scouts’ collection routes received a door-hanger promoting the drive on Saturday, Nov. 8. Residents who do not receive a door-hanger are not on a collection route, but they can still contribute by dropping off donations on Nov. 15 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at locations listed below or at www.bayareahunger.org.

 “Doing service in the community is an important part of being a Boy Scout.  Helping their hungry neighbors is what this ‘Good Turn’ is about,” said Larry Sly, executive director of Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano. “Food banks rely on the Scouting for Food drive to provide healthy staples and much welcomed variety that will go directly to families during the holidays.”

“Over the last 17 years local Scouts have collected over 2.8 Million pounds of food to help the needy in our community.  How did we do that? One can at a time...  What you might think is a little effort is really all the effort that is needed...if everyone does a little, together we can do a lot!” said Jim Mattson, Chairman of the local Scouting For Food drive.

Whole Foods Market, Safeway, and Berkeley Bowl locations throughout the Bay Area have in-store barrels to accept donations for Bay Area food banks throughout the holiday season.

Boy Scouts Contact                                                                                                                      

Jim Mattson, Mt. Diablo Silverado Council
(925) 408-4065

Tim Buchen, San Francisco Bay Area Council, Boy Scouts of America
(510) 577-9000 x 207 tim.buchen@scouting.org

Food Bank Contacts

Alameda County Community Food Bank
Michael Altfest (510) 684-8655 maltfest@accfb.org

Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano
Lisa Sherrill (925) 408-7655 lsherrill@foodbankccs.org

SF-Marin Food Bank
Blain Johnson (415) 282-1900, ext 270 bjohnson@sfmfoodbank.org

Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties
Caitlin Kerk (408) 858-9208 ckerk@shfb.org

Note to media: Feel free to list any of the Scouting for Food drop-off sites on Saturday (Nov. 15), listed below, in your coverage area (sites are also listed on www.bayareahunger.org). Site hours differ, but 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. is generally accurate. For coverage purposes, these sites provide great visuals and interviews. All Bay Area Food Banks will be open on Saturday afternoon to receive and sort truck shipments from Scouting for Food collections sites.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY 
Antioch
Antioch Latter Day Saints Church
3013 Rio Grande Drive

Antioch Latter Day Saints Stake Center
2350 Jeffery Way

Brentwood
Brentwood Latter Day Saints Church
1101 McClarren Road

Concord
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano
4010 Nelson Ave.

Farm Bureau Hall
5554 Clayton Road

Oak Grove Latter Day Saints Church
2930 Treat Blvd.

Danville
Danville Latter Day Saints Stake Center
655 Old Orchard Drive

Discovery Bay
Fire Station #59
1685 Bixler Road

Richmond

Hilltop Latter Day Saints Church
4351 Hilltop Drive

Lafayette

Moraga Latter Day Saints Church
3776 Via Granada

Pleasant Hill
Pleasant Hill Latter Day Saints Church
555 Boyd Road

SOLANO COUNTY 

Benicia
Benicia City Park
250 E. L St.

Fairfield
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano
2339 Courage Drive, Suite F

Vallejo
Elks Lodge
2850 Redwood Parkway

ALAMEDA COUNTY

Berkeley
St. Mary Magdalen School
2005 Berryman St.

Castro Valley
Proctor Elementary School
7520 Redwood Road

Fremont
Latter Day Saints Church
3551 Decoto Road

Hayward 
Southland Mall
660 West Winton Ave. (Sears Auto Mall parking lot)
Livermore
Lucky Supermarket
2000 Portola Blvd.

Pleasanton 
Walmart
4501 Rosewood Drive

Oakland
Alameda County Community Food Bank
7900 Edgewater Drive

Montclair Elementary School
1757 Mountain Blvd., south parking lot

Grocery Outlet
2900 Broadway

San Leandro
Boy Scout Office/Leadership Training Center
1001 Davis St.

MARIN COUNTY

Novato
SF-Marin Food Bank – Marin Warehouse
75 Digital Drive

San Rafael
Boy Scouts of America
225 West End Avenue

SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY 

San Francisco
SF-Marin Food Bank – San Francisco Warehouse
900 Pennsylvania Ave.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Los Altos
Los Altos City Hall
One North San Antonio Road

Mountain View
El Camino Hospital
2500 Grant Road

Palo Alto
Latter Day Saints Church
3865 Middlefield Road

San Jose
Second Harvest Food Bank
750 Curtner Ave.

SAN MATEO COUNTY

San Carlos
Second Harvest Food Bank
1051 Bing Street

Half Moon Bay
Coastside Hope
214 Harvard Ave.

Pacifica
Pacifica Resource Center
1809 Palmetto Ave.

South San Francisco
SSF Citadel Corps Community Center/Salvation Army
409 S. Spruce St.

NBC Bay Area Teams Up with Safeway for "Help Us End Hunger" Food Drive on Saturday, November 22

SAN JOSE, CA – (November 10, 2014) – NBC Bay Area is once again teaming up with Safeway Stores for a one-day food drive on Saturday, November 22, kicking off a month-long effort to fight hunger with Bay Area Food Banks, a collaboration of seven food banks serving over 780,000 local residents each month. The “Help Us End Hunger” food drive will take place at 155 Safeway locations throughout the Bay Area making it easy for community members to participate and help feed their neighbors in need.    

“Despite the recovering economy, thousands of Bay Area residents still rely on their local food banks to put food on their tables each week. Our goal is to create awareness and provide our viewers an easy way to help out,” said Rich Cerussi, NBC Bay Area President and General Manager. “We thank the community for all of their support to make this drive so successful year after year.”

“We thank NBC Bay Area and Safeway for bringing attention to the severity of local hunger and for creating a simple way for anyone in our community to help a family in need,” said Kathy Jackson, Second Harvest Food Bank CEO. “Bay Area Food Banks are feeding people in every neighborhood and through this drive you can donate to make a difference in the lives of people where you live.”

For the last five years, NBC Bay Area has partnered with Safeway to help stock the shelves of local food banks. In addition to providing on air promotion, the station will be enlisting hundreds of volunteers – including NBC Bay Area anchors and reporters helping at their own neighborhood Safeway Stores – on Saturday, November 22 to encourage shoppers to donate food items.

To make the donation process easier, a specially produced shopping bag filled with items that food banks need the most will be available for $10 at all local Safeway stores. Items include pasta and sauce, canned vegetables and important protein items like peanut butter and canned tuna. Once collected, the bags will be delivered to food banks for distribution to needy families. The bags will be available for Safeway shoppers to purchase now through December 25.

This year, NBC Bay Area and Safeway are inviting local chefs to participate in a recipe challenge by creating dishes using the food items provided in the donation bags. Recipe challenges will take place at various Safeway locations and will be broadcast live on NBC Bay Area.

“Safeway is proud to be partnering with our area food banks on this community-wide collection effort,” said Karl Schroeder, President of Safeway Northern California. “Assisting people who need a helping hand during the holidays and throughout the year is an important part of Safeway’s giving programs.”

Last year, the food drive collected more than 134,000 bags at Safeway Stores across the Bay Area, amounting to over 1,600,000 pounds of food for those in need.

ABOUT NBC BAY AREA

Owned by NBC Universal, NBC Bay Area / KNTV is the Bay Area’s investigative station located in the heart of Silicon Valley. The station is committed to providing continuous, in-depth news and journalism with unique personalities. Along with carrying NBC’s award-winning daytime, prime-time and late night programming, NBC Bay Area produces more than 32 hours of news programming each week, including several, weekly news franchises: The Interview with Raj Mathai, Class Action with Jessica Aguirre and Reality Check with Sam Brock. COZI TV, the station’s multicast network, offers a full schedule of America’s most beloved and iconic television series and hit movies. COZI TV can be seen locally on Comcast 186, Verizon 460, and over-the-air on 11.3.

ABOUT SAFEWAY INC.

Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America based on sales. Safeway operates 1,331 stores in the United States and had annual sales of $35.1 billion in 2013.

ABOUT BAY AREA FOOD BANKS

Bay Area Food Banks is a collaboration of seven local food banks serving northern California counties. Collectively they serve 780,000 adults, seniors and children each month through nearly 1,600 food pantries, children’s programs, shelters, soup kitchens, residential programs, and other emergency food providers. Learn more at www.bayareahunger.org.

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MEDIA CONTACTS

NBC Bay Area – Liza Catalan

(408) 432-4302 liza.catalan@nbcuni.com

Safeway- Wendy Gutshall

(925) 467-3523 wendy.gutshall@safeway.com

Alameda County Community Food Bank – Michael Altfest

(510) 636-3663, ext. 330. maltfest@accfb.org

Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano – Lisa Sherrill

(925) 408-7655. lsherrill@foodbankccs.org

Redwood Empire Food Bank (Sonoma County) – Lee Bickley

(707) 523-7900, ext. 115. lbickley@refb.org

San Francisco Food Bank & Marin Food Bank – Blain Johnson

(415) 282-1900, ext. 270. bjohnson@sfmfoodbank.org

Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties – Caitlin Kerk

(408) 858-9208 ckerk@shfb.org

Postal Carriers Enlist Public Support to Stamp Out Hunger on May 10

Largest single-day food drive to support families at risk of hunger to take place across the Bay Area on Saturday, May 10

On Saturday, May 10, people from across the country will partner with their letter carriers to help “Stamp Out Hunger.” Now in its 22nd year, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive is the largest single-day effort to combat hunger in America and the largest single-day food drive to support Bay Area Food Banks, which serve over 600,000 children, adults and seniors each month.

To participate, residents are asked to place a sturdy bag of non-perishable food items like peanut butter, pasta, rice, low-sugar cereal, and canned foods such as tuna, meat, stew, soup, and vegetables, by their mailbox before their mail is delivered on Saturday, May 10. Letter carriers will collect the food items and deliver them to their local food bank to then be distributed to those at risk of hunger in their community.

“As Letter Carriers, we’re out on the streets every day, meeting our neighbors, and have even become a part of many families in the communities we serve,” said Anthony Lowe, Alameda County’s NALC Food Drive coordinator. “But we also see who’s struggling – and unfortunately those numbers are growing. This drive means a lot to the letter carriers, personally, to be able to make a difference in our neighbors’ lives during this time. We thank the community for all of their support to make this drive so successful.”  

Last year, the Bay Area Stamp Out Hunger food drive collected more than 800,000 pounds of food for those in need. In 2013, drive organizers across the country collected more than 70 million pounds of total food donations for the tenth consecutive year.

Despite the generosity of millions of Americans who have supported the letter carriers' food drive in previous years, the need for food assistance still exists for many families. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual study measuring food security in the United States, nearly 49 million Americans, including more than 16 million children, are struggling with hunger. The skyrocketing cost of living has left even more Bay Area families struggling, while new issues like California’s drought are adding to food bank concerns. 

“Food banks are already stretched heading into a high-need time of year,” said Suzan Bateson, executive director of Alameda County Community Food Bank. “Summer break is difficult for families relying on free- and reduced-priced school meals. They struggle to bridge the meal gap. The generous support from Stamp Out Hunger is critical to ensuring our neighbors have the food they need during this difficult time.”  

Learn More About the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive: http://www.helpstampouthunger.com/

About Bay Area Food Banks

Bay Area Food Banks is a collaboration of seven local food banks serving northern California counties. Collectively they serve 700,000 adults, seniors and children each month through nearly 1,600 food pantries, children’s programs, shelters, soup kitchens, residential programs, and other emergency food providers. Learn more at www.bayareahunger.org.

For comment or to visit your local Food Bank on May 10, please contact the appropriate food bank representative below.

Bay Area Food Banks - Media Contacts

Alameda County Community Food Bank

Michael Altfest - maltfest@accfb.org

(510) 684-8655

Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano

Lisa Sherrill - lsherrill@foodbankccs.org

(925) 408-7655

Redwood Empire Food Bank (Sonoma County)

Lee Bickley - lbickley@refb.org

(707) 523-7900, ext. 15

San Francisco Food Bank

Blain Johnson - bjohnson@sffb.org

415-282-1900 ext. 270

Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties

Caitlin Kerk - ckerk@shfb.org

(408) 858-9208