Alameda County Community Food Bank

Hunger Heroes

It takes the power of community to do the work we do. Here are some of the people whose efforts have helped the Food Bank serve 40,000 people each week.

To drive away hunger, Safeway, Facciola Meats and Aidells (above) responded generously to our “End Childhood Hunger” appeal and on Monday, June 2 arrived at our warehouse with donations of nutritious food. Together they donated 4,500 pounds, which included items such as chicken broth, canned pineapple, apple juice, steak, roasts, salami and chicken burgers. What a great start to the summer!

Dennis Stecz goes above and beyond the call of duty each year as he collects food for the annual Letter Carrier’s “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive held on the second Sunday in May. It’s a family affair and for the past ten years, his daughter Sara, age 22 and his son Michael, age 19, have helped him pick up food from doorsteps on his San Lorenzo route. Dennis, who is the National Association of Letter Carrie food drive coordinator for Alameda County, says, “Although it’s a lot of hard work collecting food, we feel good about spreading goodwill to our community through the food drive.” This year’s food drive raised 98,500 pounds for the Food Bank!

Narsai David (l), Food and Wine Editor at San Francisco's KCBS radio station and Honorary Chairman for the Food Bank’s 2007 Holiday Food Drive, presents Robert Hagerty (r), CEO of Polycom, Inc., with a plaque in recognition of the first-ever Tri-Valley Food and Fund Drive. Polycom employees raised $21,000 and 1,165 pounds of food.

Dan McClosky (l) was presented with the Tyson Hunger All-Star award for his efforts in raising money and collecting food through local synagogues for the annual Holiday Dinner Drive. What started out as a turkey drive in 1998 has grown and expanded so that to date, $293,000 has been raised for our Food Bank. The award came with 30,000 pounds of protein donated by Tyson. One person can really make a difference!

Sharon Hanson (l), CEO of Serpico Landscaping, celebrated Earth Day with a food drive at the Hayward Festival on April 19th. Folks who brought a food donation received a recyclable grocery bag from their booth.

Children from Duck Pond Preschool in Oakland held a toy and bake sale, selling their toys to one another and baking snacks themselves. They visited the Food Bank, weighed themselves on the scale, took a tour of the freezer and donated their proceeds, which amounted to $400 and 21 pounds of food.

In December, Lola Hardy (r), Pastor Hopkins and volunteers from Grace Baptist Church treated Food Bank employees to a delicious, home-made luncheon with chicken, macaroni and cheese and a variety of lip-smacking side dishes. A member agency since 1985, the Church provides transitional housing for men and women, operates a food pantry, distributes food bags, is a summer lunch site and provides emergency food.

Football fans were invited to tackle hunger in a one-day food drive sponsored by the Oakland Raiders on their last home game of the year. Special thanks to the wives of the Raiders’ coaches who participated that day, especially Layla Kiffin (r), wife of head coach Lane Kiffin, for organizing the food drive. Raider’s players and coaches’ wives also volunteered to sort food at the warehouse, lending their time during a very busy season.

Children, parents and teachers from Seed 2 Sprout Learning Center in Dublin heard about the ABC7/Safeway “Share Your Holiday” food drive and arrived at the party-in-the-parking lot with food donations. The children reached high to place food into the barrels and enjoyed some free Dreyers ice cream.